The Razgriz of Sand Island
by Yoshi's Best Pal
Summary: Basically an AC5 novelization. Story 10x better than summary. BlazexEdge.
1. Intro And Prologue: Blaze

**_The Razgriz Of Sand Island_**

DISCLAIMER: All...You know what? Screw it, you know the drill.  
(Thanks, Craine, for that style.)

_15 years ago, there was a war._

_Well...war's broken out here plenty of times before._

_They've tried to invade the southlands through the northern valley  
time and again._

_Luck was never on their side, though, and their victories didn't last long._

_They didn't realize that times had changed._

_Facing one defeat after another, losing territory and watching their nation dwindle,  
they built up their industrial strength to unprecedented heights and used it to wage one final battle against the world._

_That was 15 years ago..._

_They fought ferociously, but were utterly defeated._

_The Belkans then committed the unthinkable--they used nuclear weapons on their own soil._

_Seeing this tragedy unfold before their own eyes,  
the victorious countries vowed to throw down their weapons._

_The world was once again at peace._

_And thanks to them, it seemed it would last forever._

_On a distant island, far away from civilization,  
the protectors of the peace take to the skies._

**Prologue: Blaze**

Edward J. Randolph walked casually into the base that would become his new home: Sand Island Naval Base. Upon entering, he was greeted by a beautiful Asian woman.

"Greetings to you, and welcome to Sand Island Naval Base. Second Lieutenant Kei Nagase. Pleasure to meet you. Are you the new guy?" she asked, offering her hand, which he grasped and gave a firm shake.

"That I am, ma'am. Second Lieutenant Edward J. Randolph, recently transferred from Alamo Squadron of the OAF 21st Air Divison, 146th Air Force Unit. Now I've been assigned to Wardog Squadron. Are you with that squadron?" he responded.

"Wardog 7, as a matter of fact," answered Nagase. "Callsign: Edge."

"I'm guessing I'll be Wardog 8, then," said Randolph. "Callsign: Blaze."

"You'll be somewhere in that area," replied Nagase. "Shall I show you to your room?"

"Please and thank you," answered Blaze. With that, Nagase set off.

_Thank God she knows this place,_ Blaze thought as he followed her through the labyrinth that was the naval base. _Without someone to guide me, I'd get lost but quick, and but good._

After about 5 minutes, though it felt like several times that to Blaze, Nagase led him to a room deep within the base.

"Welcome to our domain of peace," declared Nagase.

"You mean you're..." stuttered Blaze.

"Yes, your bunkmate. Convenient, I know," said Nagase with a raised eyebrow.

"How do these people do that?" asked Blaze.

"We draw straws," answered Nagase simply. "It's how we solve just about everything around here. Will you need help getting unpacked?"

"That would be nice, thank you very much," replied Blaze gratefully. Just then, a bell sounded throughout the base.

"Damn. Class time," said Nagase. "I have to go. I'll help you when I get back, but don't wait for me, OK?"

"Will do," answered Blaze. "Will you also introduce me to the rest of the squadron?"

"Certainly," confirmed Nagase. "I'll see you in a couple of hours."

"Good luck," said Blaze as she walked away.

_Something tells me I'm going to get along with this lady just fine_, thought Blaze contentedly to himself as he unzipped his duffel bag and began to unpack. Yes, he would get along with her just fine. Little did he know of the adventure that was to come; that would make him and the squadron up with which he had newly joined known, respected, and feared throughout the world...

A/N: OK, the first chapter in my newest fic is done. Hopefully, I can be more diligent than ever on this story.

NEXT: Shorebirds.


	2. Chapter 1: Shorebirds

"Red alert!" came the warning through the speakers of Albert Genette's helmet.

_I was in the sky, trying to get the training team in my viewfinder  
from the rear seat of the lead plane._

_My pilot in the front seat was howling at the earth below._

The pilot in the front seat was Captain Jack Bartlett, callsign Heartbreak One, and he was howling, not at the earth below, but at the planes to the left and right of his own.

"Gimme a break! I'm babysittin' nuggets up here!" he cried out.

"Command Room to Wardog Squadron," came the voice over the speakers. "We have leakers, aircraft type unknown. Crossing the border at Cape Landers, bearing 278 to 302. Captain Bartlett, your flight is the only group close enough to make the intercept."

Genette snuck a look at Bartlett's radar. There were at least nine bogeys on their way-straight towards Bartlett's training group.

"Baker, Svenson," ordered Bartlett, "go trail and stay close. The three of us will go high and engage the bandits. All other aircraft stay low and out of the fight. ... Or else," he added as an afterthought.

Two planes came up, one on either side. They followed Bartlett's F-4 Phantom II to the bogeys, Bartlett practicing evasive maneuvers the whole way. Genette almost vomited more than once during the ensuing dogfight.

_The world turned upside down, and my stomach turned inside out._

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Sorry about this," muttered Bartlett distractedly as they walked back to the base.

_The Captain's apology to me seemed misplaced._

_One instructor had survived the fight, but crashed on landing._

_The other one was killed in action high above the clouds._

_It wasn't his fault that the unidentified aircraft fired on us without warning._

_Nor was it his fault that the low-altitude area where he sent his trainees  
was directly in front of the enemy._

_Eight people died because the Command Room had misplaced some zeros._

"That pilot in the Number Seven was amazing," commented Genette. "Did you see her fight back?"

"No, I didn't," replied Bartlett. "I couldn't bear to watch."

Turning a full 180 degrees, he called across the airfield:

"Nagase! You keep flying like that and you'll die real soon!"

"I won't die, sir," responded the pale and visibly shaken, yet still beautiful Asian woman--the only survivor of the impromptu air battle.

_The only surviving trainee's voice was almost a whisper._

"Are you sure?" asked Bartlett, almost scathingly. "You look like you couldn't hurt a fly." With that, he walked off. Genette stayed where he was and took careful aim with his trusty camera. Adjusting the focus a small bit, he zoomed in on Nagase.

_Her face was pale, but she still managed to smile a bit for the camera._

_The photo, along with my camera, was confiscated by Base Security._

_It was as if our little undeclared war never happened._

_I came to cover this remote island because I heard that a very unique squadron leader  
was stationed here._

_I didn't realize he was this unique, though._

Bartlett was now slumped back in the main chair in the briefing room, tired and saddened at what had transpired that day.

_This bad-mouthed, good-natured old firebrand could take the greenest of rookies  
and forge him into a fearsome fighter pilot._

_Of course, that possiblity vanished with today's encounter._

_The only crew he had left now were Second Lieutenant Nagase  
and the few pilots that happened to be on the ground that day._

Said pilots, including Blaze, who was sitting next to yet another Second Lieutenant, were now seated in the briefing room and ready for the latest news.

Bartlett gave it to them.

Sigh "I know you don't like this," he began, "but we're short on people. Starting tomorrow, all of you nuggets are gonna be sittin' alert. If we launch, stay glued to me up there."

He then trained his hawkeyes on Nagase.

"Nagase!"

"Sir."

"You're flying Number Two on my wing," informed Bartlett. "Gotta keep an eye on you or who knows what you'll get yourself into."

A look of irritation flashed across Nagase's face for about a second-and-a-half, just long enough for Blaze to catch it.

"Randolph!" called Bartlett, setting his sights on Blaze.

"Yes, sir?" he asked.

"You and Rock 'N' Roller over there will flip a coin to see who gets the trail position. Whichever of you ends up 'drawing the short straw', as we like to call it, will be Wardog 4. Get your results before the next time we launch."

"Yes, sir," replied Blaze. "We can do it now, if you like."

"The sooner, the better," said Bartlett. "Go for it."

"OK, I got a quarter," said Blaze, turning to his companion. Call it in the air. Get it right, I take the trail position. Get it wrong, and you take it." With that, Blaze flipped the quarter high.

"Heads!" called his companion.

The coin came down flat on Blaze's hand, and he immediately used his other hand to cover the result. Slowly, he took his hand off the coin to reveal Vincent Harling's profile.

"Heads it is," confirmed Blaze. "Looks like I'm Number Four."

"OK, we're set," said Bartlett. "That's all for tonight, nuggets. Dismissed."

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Back in their room, Blaze was talking to Nagase about what happened. His clothes were unpacked and put in the bureau.

"...but how is it that you were the only one that survived?" Blaze was asking.

"Sheer luck, I guess," answered Nagase in a whisper.

"Kei, in the Air Force, there is no luck," said Blaze. "What many people mistake for luck is actually a guardian angel--or devil, as the case may be (1)--looking out for you."

"Unless you had a sip of Felix Felicis (2) that particular morning," cracked Nagase, at which Blaze laughed.

"That's true," he chuckled. "But we have to get some sleep. You heard the Captain, just as well as I did. We start sitting alert tomorrow, so we'll need to be up early."

"That's true, too," concurred Nagase. "Good night, and thanks for hearing me out."

"Always happy to help my comrades," replied Blaze. "See you tomorrow morning." With that, he shut out the light, and the room was smothered in darkness. Blaze fell asleep almost instantly when he climbed into his bunk.

**Chapter 1: Shorebirds**

"At ease, people," said the Base Commander in the briefing room the following morning, "but don't get too comfortable. It's a grave situation for all of us right now. Let's get this briefing started." With that, two projectors lit up, one with a map of the upcoming combat area, over Cape Landers, abd the other with their mission orders, shown below:

**Another aircraft of unknown origin has entered Osean federation airspace.**

**We have confirmed the target type as a strategic recon plane flying at very high altitude.**

**Despite our repeated warnings, it continued to penetrate our ADEZ,  
and was fired upon by Osean Coastal Defense Force SAMs.**

**We believe one of our SAMs damaged the unknown plane,  
but did not destroy it.**

**Radar shows that the aircraft is currently losing altitude, and is attempting to egress feet wet  
towards the ocean.**

**Intercept this aircraft and force it to land for identification.**

**Do not fire upon this aircraft until further orders are transmitted.**

"That is all for right now," concluded the Commander. "Get to your fighters, and good hunting. Dismissed!"

Blaze turned to the man who would be called Wardog 3 and said, "Let's kick some tires and light the fires, my friend." (3)

"Take it easy there, Harry Connick, Jr.," replied the man with a wink.

Blaze then turned to Nagase and said, "Our first actual mission. Are you nervous?"

"Very," replied Nagase.

"Me, too," confided Blaze. "Don't worry, our fears will be dispelled once we get up in the air."

Nagase knew that Blaze was right, for she knew exactly what he meant: that they wouldn't have time to concentrate on anything except flying once they were up there.

"True," she said. "Let's go."

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

About an hour later, three F-5E Tiger II fighters followed an F-4 Phantom II over the coastline of Cape Landers to the combat area.

"This is Heartbreak One of Wardog Squadron," called Bartlett. "We are approaching the target."

"This is AWACS, callsign Thunderhead," came the commanding voice through their speakers. "Roger. Bring the target to the ground. Do not fire at the target. Repeat, do not fire at the target."

"You got that, nuggets?" Bartlett called to the other three pilots.

"Wardog 2, roger," replied Nagase.

"Wardog 3, roger," concurred Wardog 3.

Blaze said nothing. He was too contemplative about how well this mission would go; replaying what they had to do over and over in his head.

"...Wardog 4? Hello! Can you hear me, kid?" shot Bartlett, jolting Blaze out of his reverie. "You better be markin' our tail, son!"

"Sorry. Wardog 4, roger. Right behind you," replied Blaze.

"Looks like you're confident, at least," commented Bartlett. "Don't get separated from me."

"Roger," responded Blaze. "I'll stay right on your tail."

"Good boy," praised Bartlett.

"Man, I'm glad you drew the short straw instead of me!" breathed Wardog 3.

"Second Lieutenant Alvin H. Davenport, zip it!" snapped Bartlett. "You need a nickname, too?!"

"I respectfully ask to be called Chopper, sir," replied Davenport. "I'm afraid I may not be able to respond to any other moniker."

"Hmm..." mused Bartlett. "That does fit you well. I've got a better name for you, but I'll keep it to myself. OK?"

"Aw, cut me some slack, man!" groaned Chopper.

"I'd get used to it, if I were you, Chopper," cautioned Blaze. Out of nowhere, Bartlett called out, "Tally ho, we've got company. Let's go!" Blaze saw it at once: a brown SR-71 flying to the southwest. They all turned and went after it.

"You're forbidden to fire until I give permission, understand?" asked Bartlett.

"Fully and completely, sir," responded Blaze.

"Good boy," praised Bartlett again. After a few seconds, he asked, "All right, where's Motormouth Chopper?"

"Wha...That's your name for me?!" stuttered Chopper, aghast.

"You've got a knack for comic dialogue," shot back Bartlett. "You mind sending the surrender request for me?"

"Oh, no, please," mocked Chopper, "age before beauty."

"I'm real shy around strangers, you know," teased Bartlett.

"Sheesh," griped Chopper. "Testing, testing...Attention, unidentified aircraft. Set your course for our beacon immediately."

"Good," praised Bartlett.

"Uh..." continued Chopper, "we will direct you to the nearest airfield. Lower your gear if you understand."

The landing gear did not lower, and the plane gave no sign of comprehension. Instead, it continued to descend. Without warning, Thunderhead's voice boomed through their speakers.

"Warning! We have four high-speed bogeys inbound," he informed the pilots. "Approaching unknown aircraft, bearing 280, altitude 6,000. Hold your fire until further orders."

"Crosing the pond to fly cover for their spy plane, huh?" thought Bartlett aloud. "Now there's a fighter pilot worth his wings. Enemy inbound, bearing 280! Head on."

To Blaze, he added, "You're not to fire until I say it's OK, got me?"

"Every word," affirmed Blaze.

"Good boy," praised Bartlett yet again.

The other three pilots fell into formation behind him. Eventually, Blaze saw the recon plane hit the water.

"Enemy recon plane down," he informed Bartlett.

"Aw, what a shame," mocked Bartlett. "Too tired to party?"

"I guess so," commented Blaze. They were getting closer to the enemy fighters now. Blaze could now tell what kind of planes they were: four MiG-29a's, heading straight at them. Without warning, a missile, white-hot and out for blood, shot at them.

"Heads up!" called Chopper. "They're firing on us!"

"Wardog Squadron, weapons safe!" ordered Thunderhead. "Hold your fire until further orders."

"Oh, COME ON!!" shouted Chopper. "Those aren't blanks they're firing out there!"

Then, they heard the words they had all been waiting for:

"Shut your mouth and fire back!!" growled Bartlett.

"Captain Bartlett," reprimanded Thunderhead, "this is Thunderhead. You are violating direct orders!"

"Shove it!" snarled Bartlett dangerously. "I'm not gonna watch any more of my pilots die!"

"Edge, engaging!" called out Nagase.

"Heartbreak One, engaging," stated Bartlett.

"Chopper, engaging," said Chopper. "You with us, Blaze?"

"All the way," replied Blaze. "Blaze, engaging!"

"We're gonna shoot them all down, kid," assured Bartlett.

"I believe you, Captain," replied Blaze, and he flew off towards one of the enemy planes.

Bartlett and Chopper were tailing one of the MiGs.

"You mind if I grab this kill?" asked Chopper. "I will, you know."

"Go ahead," said Bartlett. "Nagase, how are things with you?"

"Lump-like," commented Nagase dryly. "Blaze is doing all the work over here. He's bagged three planes already."

Chopper gave a low whistle.

"What the hell..." muttered Bartlett. "Kid, is that true?"

"It is, sir," replied Blaze, and Bartlett could hear the mischievous grin in his voice. "Anything to keep Edge over there out of trouble."

"(Scoff) Blaze!" scolded Nagase playfully, completely aware that Blaze was being a wise guy.

"Hey, you heard the Captain," shot back Blaze, just as playfully, but the tone in his next words was all business:

"More enemies, from the southwest!"

"Wardog Squadron, weapons safe!" repeated Thunderhead. "Hold your fire until further orders."

"Turning to engage bandits...Or not," commented Nagase, for Blaze was already there and had bagged two of the four enemy planes.

"Damn. The new guy's already an ace?!" said a flabbergasted Bartlett. "That's unreal."

"Why do you say that, Captain?" asked Chopper.

"Because he's starting to remind me of the Demon Lord of the Round Table, from the war 15 years ago," replied Bartlett. As if he were listening in, Blaze came on their speakers.

"You mean Cipher?"

"You know him?" asked Nagase.

"Knew him..." corrected Blaze, "he's been dead for some time now. He's the man who taught me how to fly."

"That's crazy," commented Chopper.

"Wardog," attempted Thunderhead, "I ordered weapons safe for all aircraft. Follow orders and hold your fire." But by the time he'd finished, Blaze and Nagase had already bagged the last two planes, and the radar was clear. "All unknown bogey aircraft destroyed," he relayed to the pilots.

As a test, Bartlett said:

"This is your captain. Can you hear my voice?"

"Clearer than a church bell, Captain," replied Blaze with an air of confidence.

"Good, looks like we can all hear each other," commented Bartlett. "You all alive?"

"Here," replied Chopper.

"Present," responded Nagase.

"All right," praised Bartlett. "Nice work, nuggets. Wardog 4, you still following us?"

"Like the tail on a dog," confirmed Blaze.

"Well, to commemorate the fact that we all made it out of that battle alive, I'm going to let you keep your nickname. From now on, I'm gonna call you 'Kid' no matter what. Got it? Good."

"Man, I swear..." muttered Chopper. Just then, they got their in-flight debriefing:

**Emergency transmission from Central.**

**To all Sand Island Base personnel:  
1: All information regarding today's encounter is to be classified.**

**2: Captain Jack Bartlett is ordered to report to base headquarters immediately.**

**9/24/2010  
Order E0111207  
Osean Air Defense Force Central Command**

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Later that evening, Bartlett was outside his plane's hangar with Albert Genette, relating the day's events.

_The whole affair with the unidentified aircraft was covered up._

_There was even a rumor going around that it was actually a UFO._

_Officially, the world was still at peace._

_Having witnessed the battle myself, I wasn't allowed to leave the island._

"Why do they even bother reprimanding me anymore?" asked Bartlett, almost sadly. "I know I'm gonna be stuck at Captain forever."

"Who do you think's covering up the battle?" asked Genette.

"Listen," answered Bartlett shortly, "the only thing across that ocean is Murska Air Base. That's Yuktobanian territory."

"But haven't we been allies with the Yukes since the war 15 years ago?"

"Yeah...That's why we've got people working their asses off to confirm what the hell's going on over there. I bet they've got hotlines ringing off the hook somewhere upstairs. The government doesn't wanna get the public riled up with all this, you know? But it doesn't matter-soldiers like us are too stupid to think for ourselves, so we just gotta keep our mouths shut when they tell us to. I feel kinda bad for you, actually," finished Bartlett.

"It's all right," comforted Genette. "I get to be with you guys."

"Captain's probably hatin' this more than anybody," came a voice from within the hangar.

"Hm?" Genette turned around and saw the senior mechanic walking toward them.

"He used to have a lady friend over in Yuktobania."

Bartlett closed his eyes and smiled.

"Ah, that's just an old war wound now, Pops..."

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Back inside the base, Nagase was "interrogating" Blaze about Cipher.

"...but what was he like?" she asked.

"He never talked about himself, really," replied Blaze. "I suppose he didn't like to. But, as I knew him, he was cool-headed and proud; a combat profesional. He lived to protect the meek, as well as that in which he believed."

"Why didn't you tell us he trained you until we were in the air?" asked Nagase.

"Because I didn't want to get any specail treatment--"

"Blaze, take my word for it; this base doesn't know the meaning of special treatment," informed Nagase, at which Blaze let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank God for that," breathed Blaze. "Listen, I'm tired, and I know you are, too, so let's get to bed."

"OK," conceded Nagase, "see you in the morning."

"Sleep well," replied Blaze, "and thanks for hearing me out."

"Anything to help a comrade," replied Nagase. Blaze shut out the light.

_I'm gonna sleep good tonight,_ he thought as he nodded off.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1: Referencing "Ghost Rider" there.

2: Lucky potion from "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince".

3: Stole that line from "Independence Day".

A/N: Sorry for this being so ungodly long, but I feel that the chapters have to be like that in order to fully capture the spirit of the game. Expect a lot more of chapters like this one.

TBC

NEXT: Open War.


	3. Chapter 2: Open War

**Chapter 2: Open War**

The pilots of Wardog Squadron settled down into their seats in the briefing room. The lights went out and the two projectors lit up once again, the same as before, only this time, the briefing read as follows:

**A ship of unknown origin has been detected approaching the Sand Island coastline.**

**We've confirmed that this ship has launched numerous unmanned aerial vehicles  
probably used for reconnaissance.**

**The UAV will likely return to the launch ship for retrieval after completing their spy operations.**

**You are to halt this operation by intercepting and destroying these recon drones  
before they can be recovered by the ship.**

**However, do not attack the ship until further orders are transmitted.**

"Understood?" Bartlett asked his pilots.

"Yes, sir!" they responded as one.

"Then let's go kick some drone ass," rallied Bartlett. "To your planes!"

As one, everyone left the briefing room to the hangar where their planes were kept.

Once they were safely in the air, they headed towards the fighting area. That's when Thunderhead cut in:

"Wardog, this is Thunderhead. Unmanned recon drones returning to spy vessel. Shoot them down before they get back to the ship."

"Sure thing," replied Bartlett. "You got that, gang?"

"Chopper, roger," replied Chopper.

"Edge, roger," concurred Nagase.

"Blaze, roger," finished Blaze.

"All right, let's go!" ordered Bartlett. "Our orders are to not fire on the ship. Understand, Blaze?"

"Perfectly, sir," answered Blaze.

"Good," praised Bartlett. "Aim only for the recon planes."

"And while we're on the subject..." edged in Blaze as he shot ahead, for there were, indeed, blips coming up on the radar.

"Go get 'em, kid," encouraged Bartlett. Soon after, four explosions occurred within ten seconds of each other.

"Pretty easy, huh, kid?" asked Bartlett.

"More so than falling asleep at night," answered Blaze, "and that's pretty damned easy."

"OK," said Bartlett, "let's hurry up and finish this."

"Done," answered Blaze. "Try and keep up with me."

"Are you challenging us?" asked Bartlett.

"Mayyyyyyyybe..." teased Blaze, and he shot off towards the southwest. They followed him as fast as their planes would go.

"There's the ship," called Blaze, looking downwards. Sure enough, there it was. It was guarded by four more recon planes.

"Show me what you've got, kid!" challenged Bartlett.

"Catch me if you can," teased Blaze, and with that, he destroyed the other four planes in one fell swoop.

"I'm glad there weren't any live people in those things," commented Chopper. "Aren't you, kid?"

"Very much so," replied Blaze. "But why do you ask?"

"So," replied Chopper, "we can just shoot 'em down and not worry about it."

"True," replied Blaze contemplatively. Again, Thunderhead cut in:

"Warning: Multiple bogeys inbound, closing fast."

"Same attack axis as before?" asked Bartlett.

"280," answered Thunderhead. "Same vector as last time."

"Jeez," complained Bartlett, "how many planes they got lined up at the border? We've only got four on our side...we'd better abort. This way." He headed back towards Sand Island, and the others followed him.

"Think you can stick to my tail?" he asked Blaze.

"Way ahead of you, Captain," replied Blaze.

"Good boy," praised Bartlett.

Chopper was not as fortunate.

"I can't make it!" he cried. "They're running me down!"

"Oh," zinged Bartlett, "you're takin' the trail position today, Rock 'N' Roller? Hold on, I'll clear your 6:00 for you."

"Damn it," whined Chopper, "why'd I have to draw the short straw today?!"

"Everyone else, quit gawkin' and start shootin'!" ordered Bartlett.

"On it," replied Blaze, "but I'm getting kinda nervous."

"Don't worry," soothed Bartlett. "Just remember your training."

"Captain Bartlett!" yelled Thunderhead.

"OK. Blaze, engaging."

"Enemy fire confirmed, turning to engage...Edge, engaging."

"Heartbreak One, engaging."

"Chopper, engaging."

"Wardog," thundered Thunderhead (try saying that five times fast), "you are not cleared to engage at this time!!"

"We're gonna shoot them all down, kid," reassured Bartlett, ignoring Thunderhead.

"You splashed an enemy without permision to engage?!" cried Thunderhead. "What are you thinking, Wardog?!?!" But by the time he finished his sentence, Blaze had already shot down three of the six enemy planes that were following them.

"All right, not bad," complimented Bartlett.

"Thank you, sir," answered Blaze. Just then, they heard over the radio:

"Enemy squadron has commenced counterattack."

"Is it just me," commented Blaze, "or did that guy sound Yuktobanian?"

"It's just you," answered Bartlett. "What I heard was Osean."

"Sounded Erusian to me," put in Chopper.

"I thought he sounded more like a Belkan," chimed Nagase.

"Well, either way," finished Blaze, "he's out of the air now, and so are his buddies."

"Picture clear," confirmed Thunderhead. "All hostile aircraft are destroyed. Warning still in effect. Keep your heads on a swivel."

"Watch out, Nagase!" warned Bartlett just as a missile shot from the ship. "They're down below us, too!"

The missile immediately went after Nagase. She did all she could to shake it, but it was stuck to her like glue. Bartlett came in behind her and picked it up, allowing Nagase to go free. When next she looked, the missile was impacting Bartlett's plane.

"Captain!" she called out, as Bartlett's plane started trailing smoke.

"Hey!" he called out roughly. "Save the waterworks. I'm just gonna bail out here. We can replace these things - it's gettin' the crew back alive that counts. Make a call to scramble the search and rescue copter and my reserve plane, OK?"

"Already done, Captain," answered Blaze.

"Good job," praised Bartlett. "I'll see you guys around." with that, his canopy burst open, and he ejected from the plane.

"Warning! Warning!" called Thunderhead. "Wardog Squadron, return to base immediately!"

"But the rescue helicopter isn't here yet," protested Nagase.

"Leave that to the rescue team!" replied Thunderhead. "Refuel and rearm at the base, and get back in the air immediately!"

What he said next would change their lives forever:

"The enemy has declared war on us!" With that, they got their debriefing:

**The reconnaissance UAV and the unidentified fighter aircraft that bounced us during the mission  
have been shot down.**

**The ship's country of origin is still unknown, but it has ceased operations in our maritime defense zone  
and has departed the area.**

**Once we sanitize our coastal waters, we will conduct a search and rescue mission to find Captain Bartlett,  
who was shot down.**

**Furthermore, the Union of Yuktobanian Republics has officially declared war  
on the Osean Federation.**

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A/N: Ooh, an EVIL CLIFFY! Ahahahaha-cough-hack-cough God, that's not easy on the throat. Still, I know it's a cliffhanger. That's the point.

TBC...

NEXT: Narrow Margin.


	4. Chapter 3: Narrow Margin

A camera flashed on in the corner of a bunking room and started recording. A medium-sized, respectably handsome man stood back a few feet and spread his arms out.

_This was the room...or, the cell...I had been assigned to._

The next thing the camera saw was the man-Albert Genette**-**sitting on the bottom bunk of his quarters, watching another man, dressed in an impeccably crisp Navy uniform, taking a phone call.

_Captain Hamilton...unlike his superior,  
the Base Commander who locked me in here,  
he's been very reasonable with me._

_He even got my camera back. He told me that if his uncle wasn't a soldier,  
he would've liked to have a job like mine._

After Hamilton hung up the phone, he tapped the receiver with his index finger four times before turning to Genette and saying,

"Well, we don't have any reason to hold you anymore."

"What do you mean?" asked Genette.

"Yuktobania just declared war. They've launched an offensive simultaneously, too," he responded.

"Our naval port at St. Hewlett is getting bombed right now," he added as he adjusted his hat and left the room.

_That can't be right,_ thought Genette. All the same, he went to his window and looked out at the runway, where he saw three planes taking off: an Su-37 with the number 007 on it; an F/A-22A Raptor with the number 016 on it, and an X-02 Wyvern without a number. Genette supposed that this un-numerated plane was flown by Chopper, the other pilot of which Blaze and Nagase had spoken. As they lifted in to the sky, Genette silently wished them luck, and, although he was not a religious man, said a prayer for all of them.

_There were only three of them now. ..._

**Chapter 3: Narrow Margin**

The three planes were fast approaching St. Hewlett. Edge was in the lead, with Blaze and Chopper in the trail-and-follow positions. At that moment, Thunderhead cut in with:

"Due to pressing circumstances, I'll be issuing an emergency in-flight briefing."

"We're listening," responded Blaze. With that, the briefing shot through their ears:

**Our naval base at St. Hewlett reports that Yuktobanian aircraft  
have launched a surprise attack on the port.**

**The situation there is critical with widespread panic.**

**Ships from the 3rd Osean Naval fleet docked at the port  
are currently under attack and taking heavy losses.**

**Hurry to Port St. Hewlett and provide air cover for our naval vessels  
attempting to escape the bay.**

**Among these ships is the aircraft carrier Kestrel.**

**It is the flagship of the 3rd Naval Fleet and a critical combat asset.**

**You must protect the Kestrel at all costs.**

"Thunderhead to Wardog," called Thunderhead after the briefing had finished. "Edge, you lead the formation."

"Negative," replied Nagase, to communal surprise. "You take the lead, Blaze. I'll fly on your wing." With that, she rolled gracefully back to where Blaze had once been, while Blaze moved up to the front, though reluctantly.

"Are you certain of this, Kei?" he asked.

"Quite so, Edward," she replied.

"Second Lieutenant Nagase," barked Thunderhead with an edge to his voice that even a deaf man could detect, "follow your orders!"

"No," replied Nagase quite calmly, but with the type of voice that said quite clearly that she refused to be deterred...by anyone. "Blaze is leading. I'll protect his 6:00. And I'm not gonna lose another flight lead."

"Quit screwing around!" barked another voice, this one unfamiliar to all three pilots. "This is war! The enemy's all over and they're gonna eat you alive!"

"No, they're not," responded Blaze. "I'll personally see to that."

"Uh," stammered Chopper, "I'd better stick to the trail position, thanks."

"This is Captain Marcus Snow," called out the unknown pilot, "callsign Swordsman. Engaging next enemy formation. Give me a position."

From the ground, there came another voice on the radio:

"This is the AA cruiser Excalibur." The pilots quickly located said ship in the northeastern portion of the bay. "The ship blocking us up ahead, you've got to move away! We can't use our SPY radar!"

"Looks like it's hell out there, above AND below," remarked Blaze.

"What'd you expect?" asked Chopper. "It's a war zone."

"True," mused Blaze. Right then, Thunderhead cut in:

"Cleared to engage."

"Roger," acknowledged Blaze. "Blaze, engaging."

"Edge, engaging."

"Chopper, engaging."

Nagase then informed Blaze:

"I'll cover your six. All right, Blaze?"

"Affirmative," replied Blaze. "Now, how are we going to do this?"

"Blaze," replied Nagase, "you take the lead. I'll go trail-and-follow."

"OK," conceded Blaze. "Try and keep up with me." Just then, they heard a desperate voice on the radio:

"The tanker next to us just exploded! Where's the fireboat?! It's spreading to our ship! Help us!!"

Another voice, equally as desperate, said in a voice that was little more than a whisper:

"Nobody saw them coming?"

Next, they heard a Yuktobanian pilot on a widecast frequency saying,

"Their ships are just sitting at anchor. This is like target practice."

They then heard another Yuke inform his squadmates:

"Enemy reinforcements detected. Heads up and get ready."

"Captain, do you know how to give your commands?" asked Chopper.

"Like the back of my hand," replied Blaze with an air of confidence.

"Cool," breathed Chopper. "I'm ready for them anytime, so just say the word."

"Then here's my first one," said Blaze. "There looks to be a lot of enemies here. Break formation and disperse freely; divide and conquer."

"Dispersing," replied Chopper. "Why do I have the feeling that that simple tactic is going to win us so many battles?"

"You got me," replied Blaze. Just then, the man from the burning boat radioed in:

"The fireboat got caught in the explosion! Two-no, three ships are burning now!!"

"This is not a drill..." said some poorly-informed soldier. The man from the burning boat yelled out:

"Oh, thanks for the heads-up, you IDIOT!!" Then they heard a Yuke commander tell his troops:

"Your target is the enemy aircraft carrier and the large surface combatants surrounding it. Don't let them escape the port. Sink them all."

"Protect the Kestrel at all costs!" ordered someone on the water.

"This is Swordsman," replied Snow. "Roger. On my way. That's our ship."

"Negative!" called out Thunderhead. "This is AWACS Thunderhead. Swordsman, remain in the eastern sector. Protect our territory and continue battle."

"But that's my carrier!"

"Wardog, provide cover for the Kestrel. It's leaving the port now."

"Damn it, you pigheaded...!" Snow stopped himself mid-sentence, forced to do naught but watch as his beloved ship forged a path through this newly-made hell. "All right. I'm counting on you, Wardog. Don't lose our ship!"

"This is Blaze," replied Blaze. "You have my guarantee that they won't even chip the paint."

"Range to bay exit, 3 miles," updated the Kestrel. Nagase was skimming the surface of the water when she let out a gasp.

"What's wrong, Nagase?" asked Blaze.

"Look at the water's surface. ...Those...Those are people floating in the waves." Blaze looked.

_I shouldn't have looked._

_When that enemy plane crashed and covered the water in flames,  
there were people floating right there._

_I could see their faces...so many of them._

_Somebody stop this._

_I can't take it anymore._

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Wardog, the Kestrel, and half the 3rd Osean Naval Fleet had reached open waters just outside of Port St. Hewlett. Wardog was still in a state of shock at what they had just seen.

"Kid," hyperventilated Chopper, "did you see that?"

"Damn right I saw that," stuttered Blaze, who sounded like he was near tears; he had seen many of his old friends and comrades from the 146th Air Force Unit floating dead in the waves, as well as some children with their mothers.

"So," said Chopper, "you saw it, too...That sea..."

"Disturbing, I know," concurred Blaze, "but we can't think about that right now. I'm picking up multiple MIR-2000's and Nimrod bombers, closing on the Kestrel at high speed. Divide and conquer, just like in the port."

"Roger," affirmed Chopper. "Dispersing."

"This is Captain Andersen of the aircraft carrier Kestrel," said the man over the radio. "My congratulations to all ships that managed to escape. As Captain, I will now form a provisional battle fleet. The enemy's built a blockade with their fleet in front of us. We have to break through this and escape to safer waters. Good luck, everyone. All friendly aircraft, your support is requested."

"We better take them out fast," remarked Chopper.

"No_ mierda,_ Sherlock," shot Blaze.

"You speak Sapin?" asked Nagase, intrigued.

"Took two years of it in high school," (1) replied Blaze. "Let's go!" And with that, he darted off toward the blockade of Yuktobanian naval vessels. Nagase and Chopper went for the planes. Within five minutes, all the planes were destroyed, and they were coming up on the blockade.

"We're gonna break through the middle of that fleet?" said someone from the Kestrel.

"Guess we'll have to accept the loss of a few ships," resigned someone on the Excalibur.

"No, you won't," reassured Blaze. "Watch this." With that, he made a beeline across the entire Yuke fleet blackade, drenching it with ordnance and bullets. Inside of sixty seconds, all ships were sunk.

"It broke through!" cried Chopper. "That's one tough boat, man! Yeah!" He then asked, "So, Kid, does it feel good to be the flight lead?"

"Better than romance," quipped Blaze.

"I see," said Chopper, playing along. "Good, I'm glad to hear it."

"This is the captain of the carrier Kestrel," radioed Andersen. "Our fleet has successfully escaped to safer waters. My thanks to our brave warriors of the sea...and in the air."

"It was no trouble, Captain Andersen," replied Blaze. "It was an honor. Wardog out." With that, Chopper started counting...something.

"One, two, three..."

"What are you counting, Chopper?" asked Blaze.

"One, two, three planes," continued Chopper. "Count 'em up, man, we're all back safe. I can't wait to tell the Captain once they pluck him out of the ocean!" With that, they flew back towards Sand Island.

"You're an interesting man, Edward Randolph," commented Nagase. "We must discuss our pasts at some point in the future."

"Rest assured, we will," replied Blaze. "And I'm flattered that you think so highly of me."

_But the Captain, Captain Bartlett, never returned to Sand Island._

Their debriefing looked like this:

**The aircraft carrier Kestrel has survived the enemy attack  
and has broken through into open waters.**

**Although the 3rd Osean Naval Fleet sustained considerable damage,  
****it's still combat capable.**

"We did good today, Wardog," praised Blaze. "Get some rest. You've earned it. Dismissed."

* * *

A/N: OK, Blaze has had his first taste of leadership. How will he handle the role?

1: Part of a quote from Disney's "Treasure Planet".

TBC...

NEXT: First Flight.


	5. Chapter 4: First Flight

_When the rescue chopper arrived, the Captain was nowhere to be seen._

_The only thing they found was the retreating enemy intelligence vessel._

_This island used to be a place of exile from the rest of the world._

_It then became our first line of defense against the enemy._

Albert Genette was sitting in the room/cell to which he had been assigned with "Blurry" by Puddle Of Mudd blaring on the radio when Chopper walked in.

"How ya doin', Genette?" asked Chopper pleasantly.

"Quite well, Chopper," replied Genette. "I have a question, however--"

"Who's gonna be the flight lead tomorrow?" guessed Chopper. "I wouldn't waste my energy worryin' about that if I were you."

"Why not?" asked Genette.

"We're an auxilary squadron, you know, so His Highness, the Lieutenant Colonel, will just come down from the mainland and take over, that's all."

Chopper leaned back on the sofa onto which he had plopped.

"Phew," he breathed. "I love this sound. Calms me down. I'm gonna sleep well tonight."

"I heard the one that broke the Captain's heart 15 years ago was a Recon Major in the Yuke Army," put in Genette.

"Yeah," confirmed Chopper, "I did my history homework. We were allies back then. Man, the Base Commander sure wasn't bein' subtle about makin' accusations..." He then launched into a cruel, but passable, imitation of the Base Commander's grainy voice.

"'Was there anything suspicious about the Captain's behavior?' he says," chuckled Chopper. "Hell, I'm more suspicious about the screw in his damn head!"

At that exact moment, a siren blared throughout the base. Chopper collapsed onto his side in frustration.

"Ah, you're kiddin' me. An air raid?! Gimme a break, man!" With that, he ran to the hangar.

**Chapter 4: First Flight**

Soon, Blaze was waiting on the runway with garbled bits and pieces of communication racing through his helmet:

"Scramble the jets! Get all flyable aircraft into the air! Move it!!"

"Air raid warning! Enemy bombers inbound!"

And the like. Eventually, it was Blaze's turn to take off. As he moved toward the runway, he heard Nagase call out:

"The Captain's spare plane is still in the hangar."

"Forget it," replied the base. "Once you're airborne, get as much altitude as you can, fast. Don't let the enemy bounce you from above." Turning his attention to Blaze, the man called out, "All right...now! The first enemy wave's passed by!"

Blaze taxied down the runway with no problems, and soon after he lifted into the air, he heard:

"Blaze, your altitude restriction is canceled. Protect our base!"

"This is Blaze. Roger. On my way," he replied. "I know this is a stupid question, but what is our objective?"

"Intercept the bombers," replied the control tower. "Don't let them attack the runway!"

"Roger," replied Blaze, and the F/A-22A Raptor darted off toward said bombers.

"I see you managed to make it up," commented Pops. "Is your plane all right?"

"Thanks to you, Pops," replied Blaze.

"Glad to hear," said Pops. "Looks like keeping it in good shape has paid off." At that point, a voice unknown to Blaze made its first transmission:

"This is Wardog Leader, Lieutenant Colonel Ford. Approaching Sand Island. What's your current status?"

"Heh," chuckled Chopper. "Here comes His Highness from the mainland now."

"That's our CO?" asked Blaze.

"That's him, all right," confirmed Nagase.

"This is Base Control," called the control tower to Ford. "We are under air attack! Repeat, we are under air attack!"

"I trust you can hold the runway until we arrive?" Ford asked Blaze.

"They won't even touch the tarmac, sir," replied Blaze.

"Right," answered Ford. "Protect it at all costs."

"Way ahead of you, sir," said Blaze as he shot off towards the last three bombers of the wave. With panicked transmissions between Base Control and various members of the base staff ringing in his ears, Blaze downed the last three planes with a missile apiece. At that moment, Chopper remembered:

"Ahhhh! My rock 'n' roll records! They're in my room! It took me forever to collect all those!!!"

"I know a place where you can get replacements," comforted Blaze.

"Cool," replied Chopper. "Let me know once we land."

"Pops is taking off," informed Nagase.

"Look at the hangar!" cried Chopper. "Who the hell pulled that out?"

"This is Grimm," replied the pilot. "I was in the hangar helping out the mechanics. I'm taking off!"

"The hell you are!" protested Chopper. "You're not even out of replacement pilot training yet! Aren't there any other spare pilots around?!"

"I didn't see any," answered Grimm.

"There's no time," reasoned Nagase. "Be careful, Grimm. I'll cover you."

"I'll try," answered Grimm.

"No," reprimanded Blaze in a strange, high voice. "Try not. Do...or do not. There is no try." (1)

"Hey, Frank Oz," called Chopper, "Grimm's coming up. I'm not sure he can handle this. Are we just gonna watch?"

"Hell to the no," replied Blaze. "No man gets left behind."

"Roger," said Chopper. "Let's give him a hand."

For the next five or so minutes, Grimm ran through his checklist, Blaze and the others shooting down plane after plane after plane the whole time:

"Control systems are...OK."

"Oil pressure...No problems."

"Engine sounds great. Thank you, mechanics."

"Fuel check...Eh, this oughta be enough."

"Ejection system OK."

"This is Grimm," he said to Blaze. "I'm about to take off. Can you see me up there?"

"Clear as day," answered Blaze.

"Roger," sighed Grimm. "That's a relief."

"I'm in takeoff position on the runway. Engines, full power!"

"You're doing great, Grimm," praised Blaze. "Keep it up!"

"Roger," replied Grimm. "I'm coming up."

Soon, Grimm was out of danger.

"I'm airborne!" he told them.

"Grimm!" ordered Chopper. "Get over here and cover my 6:00!"

"Roger!" affirmed Grimm. Then he said on a widecast:

"This is Airman First Class Hans Grimm, callsign Archer. Control tower and all aircraft, I will be joining the Wardog Squadron."

"This is the control tower," came the response. "Roger that. Blaze, take care of them for us!" Just then, they heard:

"This is Ford. Sand Island, I'm out of fuel. Request clearance to land."

"Negative, Lieutenant Colonel Ford, you can't land!" replied the panicked control tower. "We are under air attack!"

"All friendly aircraft," radioed Ford, completely ignoring the base, "cover me while I land."

"What, are you insane?!" yelled Chopper.

"Second Lieutenant Davenport, is that you?" asked Ford scathingly.

"Yes, sir," replied Chopper, bracing himself.

"I'll make sure to write you up after I la--" The rest of Ford's transmission was cut off as a large fireball engulfed the place the plane's tail section once occupied.

"He's trailing fire!" yelled Chopper. "The Lieutenant Colonel's gone down!"

"Third wave closing fast," updated Nagase.

"Archer, with me," said Blaze, and he shot off toward the last planes.

"Roger," replied Grimm, and followed. Blaze bagged one, Grimm splashed the other, and they destroyed the last plane together.

"Control tower to all aircraft," came the news. "All enemy bombers confirmed destroyed. Thanks for protecting our base, everyone!"

"Was my flying all right?" asked Grimm nervously.

"Better than all right, Grimm," praised Blaze. "You did great out there."

"Thank you," answered Grimm. "It was because of your support."

"Well," commented someone on the base, "guess we didn't need to worry about Grimm after all."

"Come on," shouted someone else, "let's get a welcoming party going!"

Once the squadron returned to base, they recieved their debriefing:

**We sustained damage, but our efforts prevented the destruction of the base.**

**The base is still combat-capable with repairs proceeding at a rapid pace.**

_________________________________________________________________________________________

"So you learned to fly from the Demon Lord of the Round Table?" asked Grimm in Blaze's room later on that night. Nagase was taking a shower a few halls away.

"I did," replied Blaze, "and having him teach me how to fly was like having Vince Lombardi coach your football team--you wanted to make a legend like him proud; you didn't want to let him down."

"I hear that," said Grimm. "What was he, as a person, like?"

"A combat professional, who always strived to do what was right," answered Blaze.

"Sounds like I would have liked him," breathed Grimm. "Is he still around?"

"Sadly, no," answered Blaze, a look of sadness crossing his face. "He died in an engine accident shortly after he finished teaching me how to fly, three years ago next month."

"Oh, man," sighed Grimm. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," answered Blaze. "That was the past, or 'yesterday', as I sometimes refer to it. And as an old friend of mine used to say, 'Yesterday's gone, so live for today, and don't worry about tomorrow.'"

"Where 'tomorrow' refers to the future?" asked Grimm.

"You catch on quick, kiddo," praised Blaze. Just then, Nagase walked in wearing naught but a towel. She gasped when she saw the two men standing there, and they jumped about ten feet out of their skin.

"Oh, sh--," said Grimm, who stopped midword. "Sorry, Captain Nagase. I guess that's my cue to leave."

"Good idea," said Blaze. "I'll tell you more about Cipher some other time."

"Looking forward to it," answered Grimm. "Sleep well, Captains."

"And you, Grimm," said both Nagase and Blaze simultaneously. As soon as he left the room, Blaze yelled out, "Jinx! You owe me a duet flight!"

"Damn it," cursed Nagase. "Well, I don't think we're getting any time off for the forseeable future, so how about this for now?"

"What do you have in mind, Kei?" asked Blaze, intrigued.

"Close your eyes and you'll see," said Nagase. "And yes, I'm fully aware that that statement made no logical sense whatsoever."

"Intelligence, excellent," commented Blaze happily. "I really like intelligent people."

"Then you're gonna love me," (2) shot Nagase with a chuckle. "Now, close your eyes and keep them shut until I tell you otherwise."

Blaze did as he had been instructed, and made himself blind. He heard drawers opening and closing, and the ruffling of cloth: Nagase, he guessed, was getting dressed. Then he heard two footsteps: now she was right in front of him. Next thing he knew, a pair of lips was sliding across his. His first instinct was to pull away; he usually made it a point to not get involved with his female squadmates. He had learned that lesson six years prior, when a female pilot with whom he had struck up a relationship was killed in an assault on some superweapon whose name he couldn't remember at this particular time. Before all this could finish filtering through his brain, (which normally took about four seconds in his case) however, Nagase had pulled away and was saying, "OK, you can open up now."

Blaze's eyes opened slowly, as if awakening from a very deep sleep, to reveal Nagase standing there in a pure white nightgown. Her still slightly damp hair was forming a perfect black curtain around her facial features, which seemed as soft as a certain fairy tale princess's when she awoke from her own deep sleep. There was just the right amount of lighting to give her face a kind of supernatural glow. In short, Blaze thought, she looked angelic.

_Must stay cool, Eddie,_ he thought. _Must stay calm._

"Speechless?" asked Nagase. "I'm surprised."

"Well," said Blaze, " I can honestly say that I was **not** expecting you to do _that_." He pointed at his lips to indicate a kiss.

"I like being unpredictable," teased Nagase with a coy smile. "It keeps things fresh and exciting."

"Can't argue with that," agreed Blaze. "But I think now's the time for us to get some sleep, although I'm not sure I'll be able to with a taste like that on my lips."

"You like?" asked Nagase.

"You kidding?" confirmed Blaze. "Honeycrisp apple's my favorite flavor of lipstick."

"Ah, another thing we have in common," noted Nagase. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind, just in case."

"I didn't know you even wore lipstick," said Blaze.

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me," whispered Nagase in Blaze's ear. "Remember that," she added as she climbed into her bunk. "Good night, Edward." And with that, she fell asleep. Blaze climbed up the ladder into his own bunk, and got under the blanket.

"You're not the only one with secrets, Kei," Blaze said to himself as the name of the superweapon came back to him, just as he fell asleep:

Megalith.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

A/N: Talk about a multi-faceted teaser! God, I'm so evil. And I'm sorry the last part dragged on so long; I just went with the flow. I'll try to control myself in later chapters.

Challenge: Anyone who thinks they know Blaze's true identity, send me a private message with your guess. The first correct answer will get a mention in chapters 11b, 12b, and 16b.

1: If you don't know where that came from, get out from under your rock.

2: Stole that line from "The Dark Knight". Excellent movie; shame it was Heath Ledger's last.

TBC...

Next: Rendezvous


	6. Chapter 5: Rendezvous

_From the sky, the morning after, Pops came back like nothing had happened,  
as if the open sky had always been his one true home._

_Only 17 hours had passed since the war began._

_Yuktobania's war strategies seemed to be minutely timed  
to avoid giving Osea any chance to launch a counterattack._

_I got a notice of assignment as a member of the press corps.  
I guess Captain Hamilton had pulled a few strings for me._

_Well, I didn't waste any time going to work._

In a fairly comfortable room inside Sand Island Base, a well-honed camera zoomed in.

_Second Lieutenant Nagase, inside the crew room._

_She's sitting by herself, writing something in her book._

_Nobody knew what she was writing._

_I realized these people may well be the story I was looking for  
all this time._

_In fact, I was sure of it._

**Chapter 5: Rendezvous**

The crew sat down in the briefing room for what seemed to be the first time in eons. The Base Commander stepped forth and opened his mouth.

Attention! Listen up.

The biggest mistake Yuktobania has made in their blitz attack  
is that it had failed to sink any of our aircraft carriers.

We'll evacuate all intact carriers to our inland sea, then use them  
as a base to rebuild our counterstrike force.

You've been called to service on a very important operation, people.

Keep that in mind out there.

**Today at 1500 hours, three carriers from the 3rd Osean Naval Fleet  
will rendezvous at Eaglin Straits.**

**These carriers are the Vulture, the Buzzard, and the Kestrel,  
which has successfully escaped from Port St. Hewlett thanks to your help.**

**Your mission is to coordinate with the Kestrel and provide top cover  
for all carriers during the rendezvous.**

**Should you encounter enemy attack,  
defend the three carriers at all costs.**

**The situation is fluid, so be sure to choose an aircraft  
with good defensive capability against  
both air and ground-based threats.**

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Soon, Wardog was flying over the Eaglin Straits, patrolling the skies for any sign of trouble. A Raptor (Blaze), a Terminator (Nagase), a Wyvern (Chopper), and a YF-23a Black Widow II (Grimm) were slicing through the air like hawks.

_It was nothing._

_Easiest mission in the world._

_That's what it was supposed to be._

_It wasn't just us, but everyone they could get their hands on._

_General mobilization._

_Our planes filled the sky like a huge aluminum cloud._

_There was no way the enemy could attack._

_The queens of the ocean made to the inland sea._

_We've got it made in the shade now._

Soon, the four helmets got the following transmission:

"This is Thunderhead. We've arrived outside the range of enemy air attack. Permission granted to return to your assigned bases in sequence. Aircraft may refuel for the return trip if required. Hold above the carrier for the tanker aircraft."

"Everyone's starting to leave," noted a whining Chopper. "Can we go yet?"

"Wardog Squadron," snapped Thunderhead, "I told you to wait for the tanker plane above the carrier."

"I swear, man..." groaned Chopper.

At that point, Blaze took a look at his radar. What he saw, he couldn't believe. There were blips...lots of blips...and they almost filled the top half of his radar in a sea of dull green. His wasn't the only one.

"Hey, what is that? Is my radar on the fritz?" asked a bewildered Chopper.

"It's showing up on mine, too," observed Grimm.

"Where'd it come from?" growled Chopper. "How come the morons at Thunder-Blockhead didn't notice it? Yo, Kid!"

"You have to call him 'Captain' now," cautioned Grimm.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," shot down Chopper. "Hey, you think we oughta report this?"

"Already done," answered Blaze. Right on cue, a panicked Thunderhead yelled out:

"E-Enemy approaching! All units, return to your Combat Air Patrol stations! Protect the carriers!!"

"On it," replied Blaze.

"We have three carriers," informed Thunderhead. "Don't let them sink even one!"

"They won't even scratch the paint," promised Blaze. "Wardog, divide, engage, and conquer!"

"Dividing and engaging," chorused Grimm, Chopper, and Nagase. Transmissions were speeding through their helmets a mile a picosecond:

"I can't take off. Shoot down those enemy planes for me!"

"Come on, hurry! Get me up there!!"

"Hurry and launch the carrier jets!"

"Be on the lookout and climb to higher altitude!"

"Roger. Let me know if you see anything."

Many other unintelligible transmissions made their way through Wardog's helmets, as well.

"OK, I'm coming," soothed Chopper. "Hold on!"

"Visibility is poor," noted Nagase as she downed an especially pesky bandit. "It's the perfect time and place for a surprise attack."

"Got that right," agreed Blaze, shooting his nose guns at a Harrier, which vanished in a bright vermilion ball.

"Yeah," mourned Nagase, "I can't help but feel like everything's working against us."

"I know exactly what you mean," comforted Blaze, as he flew over to join her. "I'm intimately familiar with that state of mind."

"You're not the only one," sympathized Nagase.

"And not just because of my time in the 146th," added Blaze.

"What do you mean?" asked Nagase.

"Another time," replied Blaze, peeling away to fight another batch of enemies. "For now, we have this to deal with."

"Roger. When we get back to base?"

"It's a date-pardon the expression."

"Come on, I can do this," growled Grimm. "I've been through a real battle before!"

"And you will go through many more before this war is over," warned Blaze, splashing another Harrier that was just crossing his field of vision.

"Point," noted Grimm. "How many have you been through?"

"More than I care to remember," replied Blaze.

"OK," said Grimm, "checking fuel...still good to go."

"How did the enemy know when to attack?" asked Nagase.

"Doesn't matter," answered Chopper. "I just saw Blaze shoot the last guy out of the air."

"Something's strange here," pondered Grimm, "but I'm not sure what. Is that what an enemy attack is usually like?"

"No," answered Blaze, "at least, not that I've ever experienced. But yes, I sense something, as well. Regardless, at the moment, my radar's clean. How about the rest of you?"

"Clear," answered Nagase.

"Empty," reported Chopper.

"Nothing," put in Grimm.

"Then form up," ordered Blaze, "but be prepared to redisperse at any time."

"Forming," chorused the other three Wardog pilots, and with that, they formed into the perfect diamond. Indeed, it wasn't long before...

"Multiple bandits on radar," updated Thunderhead. "Heads up, they're carrying long-range anti-ship missiles!"

"Sparrows or AMRAAMs?" asked Blaze.

"Both!" cried Thunderhead. "Do not allow them to get in range! Fly out to intercept!"

"On it," responded Blaze. "Wardog, you know what to do." With that, they separated. As they did so, Chopper noticed several dots going up out of the carriers.

"The carrier aircraft are airborne!" he reported.

"All right," snarled the now-familiar voice of Captain Marcus Snow. "I'm airborne. Come up and get me!"

"Oh, they're finally here," mocked Chopper. "What took you guys so long?"

"Captain Snow," reminded Captain Andersen, "you're responsible for the air defense effort."

"Roger, Captain," accepted Snow with a note of confidence. "I won't let you down."

Turning his attention to his beloved Neptune Squadron pilots, he said,

"All right, gentlemen. It's time to clean house!"

"Kid," called Chopper, "it seems some of these guys are packing anti-ship missiles. Can you see any?"

"I have a visual on three, and my radar is showing nine more to the north of those three," answered Blaze, changing course to most easily intercept the three he could see. "As before, divide and conquer."

"On it, Captain," confirmed Grimm.

"We can't let them get near any of the ships," reinforced Nagase.

"If you find any, don't leave them until you're certain they're down," ordered Blaze.

"All over it, Kid," said Chopper, "but if we take ours out before the others are finished...?"

"Then," answered Blaze, "feel free to help out the others."

"OK, I'm off," said Chopper, and his X-02 darted off towards the three planes that were nearest him.

Blaze, of course, finished off his three planes before anyone else had reached theirs. He noted that, before he downed them, they displayed excellent evasive maneuvers, looping, rolling, and twisting, even corkscrewing to get away from his missiles. But Cipher had taught him incredibly well, and so he knew exactly how to counter each and every move they tried to pull on him. He turned northward, towards the last of Grimm's three planes, and downed it with an AMRAAM at almost the limit of his HUD's visual distance limits.

"Thanks, Captain," said Grimm.

"No problem," answered Blaze. "Now, follow me."

"Roger," affirmed Grimm. "I see one left for Captain Nagase."

"Ditto," confirmed Blaze, turning in Nagase's direction. "Let's help her out."

(1) Just then, they heard Nagase let out a "Fox Three!" A second later, there was another bright yellow fireball.

"Or not," commented Blaze dryly.

"Anything to keep you out of trouble, Captain," teased Nagase.

(Scoff) "Kei!" Blaze played along. (/1) "OK, enough fun and games. We have a mission. Follow us."

"Coming," confirmed Nagase.

"On my way as well, Kid," called Chopper, who was on his way to rejoin the squadron. Blaze saw him approaching them from the northeast.

"You finished yours, Chopper?" asked Blaze.

"Affirmative," replied Chopper.

"Then fall in," ordered Blaze.

"Done," reported Chopper, taking his position in the newly-reformed diamond.

"Good work today, Wardog," praised Blaze. "We're gonna sleep good tonight."

"Amen to that," added Grimm. Thunderhead seemed to agree with them, as well, for they next heard:

"All enemy aircraft confirmed destroyed. Area sanitized."

"Nice work, Wardog," praised Snow.

"Thank you, Captain," said Blaze. Just then, Thunderhead put paid to the gratitude with:

"Ballistic missile incoming!!"

"A ballistic missile?!" cried Grimm, looking around so wildly, he would later complain of a mild case of whiplash. "Where'd they launch that from?!"

Sure enough, they spotted a small line of smoke shooting down from the sky towards the oceanic area where the three carriers had just met. The white trail became a ball of blinding pure white light with rays of...something...trailing down still towards that same area. Soon, the pilots saw an almost technicolored explosion in the air. Transmissions of pain, distress, and panic were shooting through the pilots' headsets at speeds faster than even light itself, all garbled and jumbled up.

"Allied squadron wiped out! What happened?!" yelled out a pilot.

"The carrier, the carrier's hit! It's tipping!!" sobbed a sailor on the Buzzard.

"Someone! Anyone!" cried Nagase. "What's happening?!"

"I don't know!" replied a stunned Snow. "Everything below 5000 feet was just annihilated!"

"Second missile incoming!" warned Thunderhead.

"Damn it!" cursed Snow. "Listen up, if you want to survive, then climb above 5000 feet before that thing hits! All units, move it! Kestrel, evasive action!"

"I'm at 6000 feet and climbing slowly," reported Nagase.

"7000 and holding," updated Grimm.

"8000 and steady," put in Chopper. "Where's Kid?"

"Don't worry about me, Wardog," answered Blaze. "I'm at angels ten and coming down."

"Angels ten...10,000 feet, Captain?" asked Grimm.

"You know your terminology," answered Blaze. "9000 feet and stopping."

"Are they sure it's 5000 feet?" asked Grimm.

"Sounded pretty sure to me," answered Blaze.

"This is Archer," said Grimm. "Roger. I'll follow you, Captain."

"10 seconds to next impact," updated Thunderhead. "8, 7, 6, five, four, three, two, one...impact!"

Another explosion. More panicked transmissions.

"Oh, no, another one!" yelled the same pilot from earlier.

"The Vulture took a direct hit! She's sinking!!" cried someone on said carrier.

"People are spilling off the decks!!" cried Nagase, close to tears. Indeed, there were many small streams of people jumping or falling off the sides of the sinking ships.

"How...?" asked a shattered Snow. "How could this happen to our fleet?"

Soon, silence. And then...

"This is the Kestrel. All surviving aircraft, respond."

"This is Swordsman. I managed to stay alive."

"This is Blaze. Wardog is alive and well."

"Yes, we are," said Grimm in shock, "but...two aircraft carriers lost...I can't believe this is all that's left of our force..."

"We don't have enough fuel to get back to base, either," noted Chopper.

"Wardog Squadron," directed Thunderhead, "we can't get a tanker aircraft over to you. Proceed northeast to Heierlark Base, land, and refuel."

"Hey! Kid!!" yelled Chpopper.

"You really should start calling him Captain," corrected Grimm.

"Forget it!" snarled Chopper. "If he's a Captain, then I want him to start trash-talkin' like a Captain! Man, I'm missin' that voice real bad now..." He trailed off.

"He's got us back alive from battle for the second time," reasoned Grimm. "As far as I'm concerned, he's our Captain now."

"That's right," agreed Nagase, "and I'll never lose my lead plane again. ...No matter what."

_______________________________________________________________________________________

They finally reached snowy Heierlark Base in North Osea, formerly known as South Belka, very late in the evening. While their planes were being refueled, they received their debriefing:

**The enemy attack squadron has withdrawn from the area.**

**The aircraft carriers Vulture and Buzzard were sunk by a powerful burst-missile attack.**

**According to hydrophone data analysis, we have determined that this attack  
was carried out by the Scinfaxi,  
a Yuktobanian underwater attack carrier.**

**The specs of this ship are unknown, but its existence confirms that the advanced shipbuilding efforts  
of the Yuktobanians have been going on unabated since the previous war.**

**The Scinfaxi is a serious threat to our objectives.**

**...**

**...**

**......**

**...Emergency transmission from Central.**

**The President has decided to utilize the military power of the Arkbird  
to neutralize the threat posed by this new enemy submarine.**

Nagase sat there in complete and utter shock, staring at that last sentence. How...How could they do this?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Blaze returned to his room after his shower later on that night to find Nagase sitting on her bed, tears flowing down her face.

"Wha..." Blaze uttered, stunned. Never, even in his time before the 146th, had he seen anyone except himself break down and cry before. Still, he knew what to do. So, he sat down beside her and put an arm over her shoulder.

"Probably a stupid question, but is there a problem?" asked Blaze.

"Yeah, that's a stupid question," answered Nagase haltingly, "but I know you mean well. Yeah, there's a problem. A bloody big problem."

"Has this anything to do with the President's decision?" guessed Blaze.

"Damn, you're good," confirmed Nagase. "It has everything to do with that decision. How...How could he?"

"Choose to employ the Arkbird?" asked Blaze. "Can you blame him for doing what he thinks is the right thing to put an end to this war? I know the man personally, from before he won the Presidency, and I can tell you this, Vincent Harling hates warfare even more than we do, and that's saying something."

"I know he does," answered Nagase, "but even he wouldn't resort to this."

"You know what they say about desperate times, Kei," reasoned Blaze in a soothing tone.

"Desperate is having a full-sized enemy armada literally knocking down every building in sight on their way to utterly annihilating our way of life."

"No, desperate is having to destroy a superweapon meant to destroy asteroids that are threatening the whole planet because that superweapon has been captured by the enemy and is now knocking on your front door. It happened to me and a friend of mine."

"...Huh?"

"Kei, remember how you said that there was a lot about you that I didn't know?"

"Yeah."

"Well, you're not the only one with secrets."

"I know I'm gonna regret this. What do you mean?"

"Before I signed on with the 146th, I lived comfortably in a country known as Usea."

"You mean the home country of the ISAF?"

"Correct. There was a certain mercenary who flew for that organization six years back."

"Mobius 1."

"Right. Now, towards the end of the Erusian War, he headed a squadron named after him."

"You're saying you're Mobius 1?"

"I wish. I flew with him in that squadron, though."

"What was he like?"

"I never really got to know him until after the war ended, but he was very much like Cipher. Probably still is; haven't laid eyes on the man since the end of the war. We still e-mail each other every now and again, though. Once in a blue moon, he'll call me, and we'll just discuss life."

"You mean he's alive?"

"Very much so, but I have no idea where he lives now."

"Oh. Well, in any case, were you going to say anything else?"

"Actually, yes, I was. In the battle that ended the war, I was chasing down a Yellow Squadron Su-37-"

"That explains why you recommended that plane to me."

"You catch on quick. Anyways, I was chasing down a Terminator while Mobius 1 was headed off to destroy the superweapon that, otherwise, would have destroyed us all."

"Megalith?"

"That's the one. Now, I got a lock on the Terminator and fired off two missiles. At the last possible second, a friendly Raptor crossed the missiles' path and took them full in the side."

"That sucks. Who was in it?"

"Would you believe, the girl I was dating at the time?"

Nagase gasped and clapped her hands over her mouth in shock. The tears resumed streaming down her face. "Oh, Blaze..."

"I know. I was heartbroken and almost died when I found out who I had hit. I was so ashamed, I fled the country."

"Edward, her death was not your fault."

"I know that now, but by the time I came to terms with that, I had signed up with the 146th, and couldn't leave the country."

"So you turned to flying to deal with the grief?"

"Partly. There's also the fact that there's nothing like the thrill of soaring through the sky with nothing between you and free-falling to Earth but a skim piece of glass."

"You could always ride a roller coaster."

"Point."

"Still, I can't believe I'm sitting next to a veteran of the Erusean War."

"...You've been recording this on tape, haven't you, Kei?"

(Scoff) "Edward!" cried Nagase with a chuckle and a playful punch to Blaze's shoulder.

"Hey, the way you said that tipped me off."

"Search me down to my skivvies if you want to. I have no recording devices to hide."

"Tempting, but no."

"Your choice."

"Tell you what. If we both survive to the end of the war, we tell each other our whole life story."

"OK, as long as I get to go first, 'cause my life story is a really long one."

"Deal. Now, how can we seal this without being able to wimp out of it?"

"I have an idea."

"Listening."

Rather than open her mouth and say anything, Nagase leaned forward and closed her eyes. Blaze did likewise, knowing what Nagase had in mind, and the two met in a soft kiss, sealing the deal.

"That was only part of it," informed Nagase, after the two had separated.

"What else is there?" asked Blaze, moving over to his bed and laying back on his pillows. It was late at night, after all.

Nagase moved over to the door and turned out the lights. Blaze, temporarily blind, looked around for a second, but saw nothing. However, he then felt a weight on his mattress, and the last words he heard before falling asleep were:

"We sleep in the same bed tonight."

* * *

A/N: OK, newest chapter is up. The contest is still on, in case you didn't know. For those who don't know about the contest, see the end notes of the previous chapter.

(1)-(/1): Referencing Blaze's teasing of Nagase in Shorebirds.

TBC...

Next: White Bird Part One.


	7. Chapter 6: White Bird Part I

_We set off for the northern  
region to refuel._

_This place is paradise  
compared to what's further ahead._

_Beyond our destination lies  
the closed gate to Nord Belka._

_15 years ago, the Belkans set off seven  
nuclear bombs there to stave off the  
advancing allied forces, entombing themselves  
in the frozen valleys to the north._

_That bit of history should have been  
enough of a lesson for us all._

_The seven Belkan cities near the gate were vaporized  
and the local area is still highly radioactive._

_Our landing point was in the state of North Osea,  
formerly a haven for Belkans but now entrusted to Osean rule._

_If you refer to it by that name in front of a local, though,  
he'll put a scowl on his face and tell you that this is South Belka._

At 8:07 at night, the four Wardog planes finally touched down on the landing strip at Heierlark Air Force Base.

_Heierlark meant a lot to us._

_Our flight training took place __here on this airfield._

_On the base, we were surrounded by junior cadets  
eager to hear war stories._

Twenty junior cadets made a mad dash for the lobby/crew room to greet the now-famous Wardog pilots and hear some stories from them.

_The newspaper article about us,  
written by that journalist, Genette,  
made it here faster than we did._

Chopper had taken "center stage" and was now relating the story of the morning raid on Sand Island to the junior cadets that surrounded him and the other three Wardog pilots.

_Somewhere along the line,  
we had become the most experienced pilots in the entire war._

_Us...Captain Bartlett's nuggets._

Early next morning, a supersquadron of rookies, led by Wardog, was flying over McNealy Air Force Base in northwestern Osea.

_We were directed to take these inexperienced pilots  
back with us to Sand Island when we returned._

"Man, we'd better thank Pops for this," quipped Chopper.

"Why's that?" asked Grimm.

"'Cause he's the guy who pounded basic fighter maneuvers into us," answered a cocky Chopper. "Now we can lord it over all these guys!"

_You said it._

_These pilots had only a tenuous grasp of flying, much less mid-air refueling,  
so we had to land at every base along the way._

_I can't believe we have to send them off  
to guard the western coastline..._

**Chapter 6: White Bird (Part I)**

The Big 4 soon were called into the briefing room for their next mission.

**An SSTO craft launch facility lies to the east  
of our current location, McNealy Air Force Base.**

**The facility was a collaborative project between Osea and Yuktobania.**

**It was built to be a bridge to outer space,  
with a mass driver 7.5 miles in length.**

**Our radar has detected several planes from a Yuktobanian  
squadron approaching the facility from several directions.**

**The facility is currently conducting pre-launch operations for an SSTO craft.**

**The Base Commander will provide you with further orders.**

At that, everyone looked towards the Base Commander-a grizzled veteran of air combat, and he looked the part, as well.

This is the Commander of McNealy Air Force Base.

All units, including those refueling at this base, are now  
under my command. Engage the incoming enemy.

All untrained pilots are barred from taking off. Those guys are still kids!

"That is all. Dismissed," ordered the Commander. Wardog, without a word, got up and headed for the hangar.

Soon, they were flying over the Basset Space Center waiting for something to happen.

"10 minutes to launch," reported the control tower. "Commencing countdown."

_I remember this Space Center well._

_The mass driver was built by Osea and Yuktobania  
as part of their collaborative efforts to construct  
an international space station._

_Our anti-war President used the surplus funds that  
came from cutting the defense budget to build it._

"Is that the Arkbird?" asked Grimm, jolting Nagase out of her reverie. She looked up and saw a faint white triangle floating high above them.

_The Arkbird..._

_A white bird built as the first step toward  
the realization of the space station project._

_Now it's left its orbit and is just low enough to graze the atmosphere._

_It's coming down to pick up the  
laser cannon they're about to launch._

_They were building a "bridge of peace"  
that would span into outer space._

_Not anymore._

_The machinery meant for this peaceful mission  
was about to be used for our counterattack._

"Hey, listen," said Chopper to Grimm.

"Yes?" asked Grimm.

"Isn't that thing supposed to work like a satellite?" queried Chopper. "Why'd it climb down all this way?"

"It's a maneuverable orbiting spacecraft," replied Grimm.

"I know that," shot an exasperated Chopper. "I'm just saying, if the system uses atmospheric friction to change its orbit, then wouldn't that make it pretty hard to defend itself?"

"Hmm..." thought Grimm. "I guess it'd be in trouble if someone started firing at it right now."

"Yeah!" exclaimed Chopper, as though he'd won an argument. "So shouldn't it be higher up, then?"

"Continue countdown," informed the control tower. "3 minutes to launch."

_I think we're off the hook_, thought Blaze. Just then:

"Halt the countdown! Enemy incoming! This is the Base Air Defense Command. The enemy has a large formation of transport planes escorted by a squadron of fighters. They're conducting an air assault to capture this base."

"What?!?!" cried Nagase. "They're actually planning to invade Osea?"

"Looks that way, Kei," replied Blaze. "Wardog, disperse and engage."

"Dispersing," answered Grimm. "Seems the C-130s are carrying tanks."

"If we shoot the parachutes before the tanks detach," noted Chopper, "we'll smash them into the ground. You with me?" he asked Blaze.

"All the way," answered Blaze. "Take whatever steps are necessary to destroy those tanks."

"I guess we don't have any other choice..." sighed Chopper. "I can't believe that's our strategy," he added as he swung his X-02 around to target a line of tanks coming in from the northwest.

"Destroy all airborne ACVs," ordered the ADC. "Engage them in the air and on ground."

"Already down to the last five, sir," answered Blaze, as he took out another tank with a burst of white-hot metal from the nose of his Raptor. Soon after, the final four tanks were taken out and Wardog had rejoined formation.

"Blaze," said Nagase out of nowhere, "do you know why the Arkbird was built?"

"Not off the top of my head," answered Blaze, "but it sure wasn't built for missions like this, I'll tell you that."

"Got that right," agreed Nagase.

"We're getting requests from every team to restart the launch!" yelled someone in the Space Center.

"Multiple enemy aircraft overhead!" called someone else. "They're coming this way!"

Blaze looked around, eventually finding a squadron of twelve F-35C fighters coming from the east. He and Wardog took them head-on, literally, destroying four planes on the first pass. Blaze took his next two out, the first with a pair of missiles on a crossroads with the enemy plane, and the second with a burst of gunfire straight to the engines. He looked to his right and saw Grimm's YF-23A getting chased by a JAS-39C Gripen, which had come from nowhere. Before he could even come close to maneuvering into position, however, he saw a flash of yellow right above him. His eyes followed it, and what they saw was Nagase's Su-37 zooming after the Gripen. Next second, there was a bright red-yellow fireball where the Gripen had been.

"Thanks for that, Kei," thanked Grimm. Just then, they heard:

"Large number of cruise missiles tracked on the outer edge of our radar coverage. All fighters, engage and destroy these cruise missiles."

"Captain," inquired Grimm, "can you detect the cruise missiles from here?"

"Got one in my sights," answered Blaze.

"I've picked them up as well!" cried Grimm. "They're heading for the facility!"

Right then, there came a voice from the ground:

"This is Flight Director Adam Gittelman. Continue SSTO launch. Recommence launch sequence."

_Yes!_ thought Blaze.

"Attention, all personnel," informed Gittelman, "we only have one chance to launch. Let's all do our jobs and see this through to the very end. That is all!" All control teams reported their understanding, and the countdown began anew.

"4 minutes to launch! Hold them off until then!" ordered a head of staff.

"4 minutes?!?" cried a scientist. "We won't last that long!!"

"Wardog, try and hold off the missiles," ordered Blaze. "I'm going after the source."

"Roger," answered Nagase.

"3 minutes! 3 minutes to go!" yelled the station. Soon, Blaze found the source of the missiles: a B-2 25 miles from the mass driver. He took it out with a couple of missiles.

"Command, this is Blaze," he called. "I've just splashed a B-2 bomber. These must be the craft behind those missiles."

"This is Command," replied the base. "Roger that. If you find any more, destroy them."

"Wilco. Over and out." With that, Blaze plotted some trajectories and relayed them to the other Wardog pilots. Immediately, they headed off on each flight path while Blaze stuck around the base.

"Just a little more...just 2 more minutes!!" growled someone in the launch center.

With about a minute left to go before the launch, Grimm, Nagase, and Chopper all reported confirmed kills on B-2 bombers. Blaze breathed a sigh of relief. It was over, and the SSTO team had the green light.

"Countdown to launch..." warned Gittelman. "10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1...Liftoff!!!"

"SSTO increasing speed!" reported a scientist.

"SSTO passing Checkpoint 1!"

"Passing Checkpoint 2!"

"Passing Checkpoint 3!"

"SSTO status report!"

"Everything's clear," reported an observer. "All systems are go."

"Yeah," added Gittelman. "I'm seeing it from here. It's a beautiful sight. This is great!"

"Observation room reporting," reported the head observer. "The SSTO is climbing smoothly. Congratulations!" With that, everyone present gave a roar of triumph.

_The white bird rose up once again,  
laser cannon in its wings._

_It was a moving sight._

_In my heart, though, I wished it didn't  
have to be used in war._

None of them found out why the enemy  
targeted the base until much later.

Of course, by that time,  
it was too late...

Later that night, in the briefing room:

**We prevented the Yuktobanian army from capturing the launch facility.**

**The SSTO launch was successful.**

**The SSTO docked with the Arkbird, which had descended into the upper atmosphere,  
and successfully transferred a laser weapon module over to the craft.**

**All aircraft with the 108th Tactical Fighter Squadron and the Sand Island detachment,  
return to base as soon as refueling and rearming operations are complete.**

That same night, Blaze was in his bunk, sleeping, when Nagase walked in. She climbed in next to him, and he woke up.

"What's up, Kei?" he asked.

"Why would our President make such a decision?" wondered Nagase.

"What decision?" asked Blaze.

"To use that beautiful white bird in warfare," answered Nagase. There was just enough light in the room for Blaze to catch a tear rolling down Nagase's right cheek.

"Maybe he thought he had no other choice," reasoned Blaze. "Think of what the Scinfaxi did to the 3rd Naval Fleet. What would you have done?"

"I don't know, but the Arkbird would have been my absolute last resort," answered Nagase. "It just seems like he jumped to a hasty decision, that's all. And that's very unlike our President."

Blaze knew exactly what she meant, and he knew she was right. It was, indeed, a very uncharacteristic move for Vincent Harling. A decision like that was more down Vice President Jason Appelrouth's alley.

"True," concurred Blaze. "That's something that should be looked into. But for right now, we need to get some sleep."

"Right," conceded Nagase, as she left Blaze's bunk. "Good night, Edward."

"Sleep well, Kei," said Blaze.

* * *

Blaze didn't know how he got where he was or even where he was. All he knew was that there was an ocean below him and an asteroid-filled sky above him. The only things, right now, that existed were him, his Raptor, and a Yellow Squadron Terminator in front of him. He looked to his left and saw a weapon that could only exist in the worst of nightmares: Megalith. At present, it was impregnable, so he decided to focus on what was in front of him.

His HUD was locked on to the Terminator, so he let two missiles loose with a "Fox Two! Fox Two!" Almost as soon as he fired, another Raptor crossed his field of vision and ran right into the path of the missiles, which exploded with a deafening bang.

_Oh, God..._thought Blaze, terrified. _What did I just do?! I've killed a friendly!_ Almost as soon as he thought the word "friendly", the scene changed. Now he was wearing a black tuxedo on a rainy day, laying flowers on the casket of the woman he loved. The woman who had been his rock. The woman whom he had unintentionally shot down while pursuing a Yellow.

At that, Blaze shot up and out of his bed in a cold sweat. He felt his face, looked at his body, and checked his surroundings. He was where he was supposed to be...in a bunk at McNealy AFB.

_Whew..._thought Blaze. _Will I ever stop having those nightmares?_

A/N: OMG, I am so sorry this took so long. It's a long and convoluted story, and you wouldn't believe me if I told you.

TBC...

Next: Front Line.


	8. Chapter 7: Front Line

Wardog touched down on Sand Island to find a lieutenant waiting for them.

"Uh-oh," said Blaze. "What's the bad news?"

"Follow me and you'll see," answered the lieutenant, and with that, he took them directly to the briefing room.

**Chapter 7: Front Line**

Ugh, you people are like the plague, you know that?

The moment you return to Sand Island, this happens.

**A large combined force of Yuktobanian vessels and aircraft  
has been detected advancing in the ocean directly toward  
Sand Island from the west.**

**Our intelligence has confirmed the presence of amphibious  
assault ships within the oncoming fleet.**

**We believe the enemy's goal is to conduct a landing  
operation on Sand Island and capture this base.**

**Close with the enemy, disrupt landing operations, and  
suppress their naval gunfire directed at our forces ashore.**

Even if this turns into a ground war, I am prepared to fight  
for this island to the bitter end.

As my advance guard, I want you to forget everything  
else and concentrate on dealing a lethal blow  
to the incoming enemy invasion fleet.

We'll be deploying everything we've got.

Launch every ship capable of anti-ship combat,  
regardless of combat experience.

After they were dismissed, Wardog was fuming. Base Commander Orson Perrault seemed to be getting dumber and dumber by the day. How in the holy high HELL could he send a bunch of nuggets out to a war zone?

Soon, however, that thought had left their heads as they flew out west to meet the enemy.

"This is AWACS Thunderhead," came the call. "All units, listen carefully."

"Ahh, I missed that sweet voice," shot Chopper. "Say, you get that from your mama's side of the family?"

"Cut the chatter," shot back Thunderhead, trying and failing to be stern. "First enemy wave, bearing 280 degrees. You are cleared to engage on sight."

"I see them already, AWACS," reported Blaze. "Wardog, let's blow up these boats. We'll split into two groups. Edge, you come with me and we'll take out the fleet. Chopper and Archer, take the nuggets high with you and provide air cover."

"Why us?" whined Chopper.

"Because they're less likely to get killed if they go high," reasoned Blaze.

"Oh, that works," agreed Chopper.

"Still," added Nagase, "whether you send them high or low, it's too risky to bring them here."

"I'm with you on that," concurred Chooper. "You agree, Kid?"

"Wholeheartedly," replied Blaze.

"Seriously," finished Chopper, "they've got their hands full just keepin' their planes in the air."

"Captain," called one of the nuggets, "if we make it back alive, there's a question I'd like to ask you, if that's OK."

"You better do it now," cautioned Blaze, "'cause you won't have much time for anything else except staying alive when the fighting really starts."

"Thanks," said the nugget. "My question is this: Do you all ever get scared?"

"I don't know about the other three," answered Blaze, "but that's a big 'Hell, yes' from me."

"I see," said the nugget. "So you're just like us."

"We're all only human," reasoned Blaze, "and it's natural to feel fear when you enter a battle. Just follow your training and you'll be fine."

"This is Sand Island Base Defense!" came a sudden shout through everyone's helmets. "Enemy amphibious force intercepted at the coastline!" Sure enough, they heard gunfire and explosions aplenty.

"Enemy ships are firing towards Sand Island," informed Thunderhead. "Stop them!"

"Oh, great," sighed Chopper. "Here we go. Should we split up now, Kid?"

"Make it so," replied Blaze, all business. "Edge, come with me."

"Enemy assault ships are launching attack helicopters," noted Thunderhead. "Shoot them down before they reach Sand Island."

"Archer and the nuggets, stay on my six!" ordered Chopper. With that, his X-02 Wyvern started climbing, Grimm's YF-23 Black Widow II and the nuggets right behind him. Meanwhile, Blaze, in his light blue F/A-22A Raptor, was making a beeline for the fleet of Yuke hovercraft, Nagase's Su-37 Terminator (painted in the legendary Yellow Squadron's two-tone yellow/gray scheme) hot on his heels. Blaze let loose three missles in rapid succession, each one destroying a hovercraft. Just as he destroyed the last one, Nagase spotted an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter right near the main fleet, and shot off past Blaze to take it out with a burst of nose cone gunfire. Right then, the two reached the main fleet.

"Edge, let's split up. I'll go south," ordered Blaze.

"Roger. Splitting off," replied Nagase, banking towards the north.

"The coastline is under heavy enemy attack!" yelled someone from the infantry.

"I know, I know!" came a familiar voice over the speaker. "All units, this is Colonel Perrault at Base Command. Do everything in your power to stop them! If you can't protect this island, what'll we tell our great heroes in the sky?"

"'Great heroes'?" wondered Grimm, as he looked around to check his six. "What's with him? He's like a completely different man."

"Don't expect that stuff when we get back," remeinded Chopper, as he banked 180 degrees to resume his patrol over the naval battlezone. "I bet he's got a different script for us."

"Enemy assault ships are launching hovercraft," informed Thunderhead.

"So hey," said Chopper, "if the enemy wins here, then what happens to us?...Damn, this ain't lookin' good."

"Finally," cried a nugget, "a real battle!...I'm getin' nervous."

"Beamer," cautioned another nugget, "your plane's wavering."

"Engaging enemy anphibious force!" yelled the infantry.

"Airborne attack squadron, don't worry about us," soothed Perrault. "We will stand firm and fight to the end!"

"What a tearjerker," quipped Grimm, voice overflowing with sarcasm.

"Man," seethed Chopper, "if he wants our help, he should just say so! Of course, not that we have the time to help right now."

"That bitter end may not be too far away," called Nagase in a concerned tone. "Missile fired from enemy sub!"

"What?" cried Grimm.

"Get out of there, Grimm!" shouted Nagase-she had already gained some decent height. "You nuggets, too!"

"Climb! Climb!" urged Chopper, as he started pulling up. "C'mon!"

"You hear me, nuggets?"" Nagase almost sobbed. "You have to climb!"

"Pull up!" screamed Chopper. "Everyone! Get your altitude above 5,000 feet!"

"Submarine missile launch confirmed," informed Thunderhead. "Believed to be a burst missile, with multiple warheads that separate in midair. Get above 5,000 feet and stand by!"

Blaze immediately pulled up and zoomed to 6,000 feet.

"Wait," said Thunderhead, confused, "we're getting a command override from somewhere..."

"WHAT?" hollered Blaze. "What the _mierda_ is this?"

"Data Link to A-Sat Targeting System..." read off Thunderhead. "What is this?"

"I think I know," said Nagase, more to herself than anybody.

"Now it's counting down by itself...9, 8, 7..."continued Thunderhead.

"Damn it!" cried Chopper, angrily. "They're not gonna make it!"

"...4, 3, 2, 1..." finished Thunderhead.

The four pilots of Wardog Squadron braced themselves for the massive explosion and steel rain that would spell the deaths of just about every nugget in the combat zone. Instead, what they heard was a high-pitched whining coming from the north. Everyone whipped their heads around and they saw something incredible: a beam of light, like a laser, coming from the sky.

"Missile vaporized in midair!" cried Thunderhead.

"What was that? Did you see that, Kid?" asked Chopper in amzement.

"Hell, yeah, I saw it!" replied Blaze.

"A beam of light fell from the sky!" said Chopper.

"I know!" called Blaze.

"...Was that the Arkbird?" put in Nagase.

"Missile destroyed by a laser beam fired from orbit altitude," confirmed Thunderhead. "It's the Arkbird. We've got the Arkbird! All units, continue engaging the enemy!"

"On it," replied Blaze. "OK, Edge, back to what we were doing." With that, he returned to destroying the enemy fleet, as did Nagase.

"This is the anti-sub patrol plane Blue Hound," came another voice on their speakers. "Submarine detected by sonobuoy. Sound pattern analysis produces a match with the Scinfaxi."

"Captain," asked a worried Grimm, "do you think the Arkbird can really avoid hitting us?"

"It sure can, if I know those guys on it at all," replied Blaze. "Do you think so?"

"Yes," answered Grimm, "it does seem to be highly accurate."

"Then get back to your patrol and stop worrying," ordered Blaze with a laugh.

"Last ship in main enemy fleet destroyed, Captain!" reported Nagase.

"Good work, Edge," praised Blaze. "There's a supplementary fleet further out to sea. Let's go take it out."

"On your six, Captain," replied Nagase, and she zoomed after him.

"Thunderhead, this is Blue Hound," reported the spyplane. "Detecting sounds from Scinfaxi indicating imminent missile launch."

"Arkbird," relayed Thunderhead, "we'll send the data over as soon as we detect the missile. We're counting on you."

"Thunderhead," put in Blaze, "this is Blaze. Edge and I have completely destroyed the Yuke fleet."

"What about Davenport and Grimm?" asked Thunderhead.

"They're flying air cover with the nuggets," answered Blaze.

"Good work, Wardog," praised Thunderhead. "But we're not out of the woods yet. We have to take down the Scinfaxi if we wish to truly win today."

"I knew you'd say that," groaned Chopper.

"Missile away from enemy sub," reported Blue Hound nonchalantly.

"Locked on!" called out Thunderhead. "Begin data link!"

"That single bird," yelled a Yuke soldier on a widecast, "has tipped the scale of this entire battle!"

"Arkbird firing laser," reported Thunderhead.

_Hit it,_ thought Blaze, _hit the thing, hit the thing, hit the thing, come on..._

"Missile destroyed!" yelled a jubilant Thunderhead. "We did it!"

"Thank you, Arkbird," said Blaze, audibly. "Wardog, rejoin formation. Bring the nuggets with you."

Before long, they formed a Triforce-type shape in the air.

"I'm gonna make it!" cried a nugget. "I'm gonna get out of this alive, I know it!"

"Oh, no!" moaned the man on the Blue Hound. "They're launching more missiles! Number 3, number 4, number 5...!"

"There's too many!" yelled Grimm.

"Come on, Arkbird," urged Nagase, "use your lasers! The nuggets are gonna get killed!"

"Don't you worry about a thing, ma'am," replied someone on the Arkbird. "I'MMA FIRIN' MY LASERRRRR!" (1)

"Arkbird, this is no time for jokes!" scolded Blaze.

"Apologies, sir," said the joker. "I couldn't resist."

"Climb, kids!" screamed Chopper. "Go, go, go!"

"Come on, nuggets!" Nagase was hollering herself hoarse. "Climb! MOVE IT!"

Blaze took the time to shoot off a bunch of XMAA's at some F/A-18 Hornets he'd come across before he started zooming towards the sky. His HUD showed him shots of all four missiles, and their prey were trying every move in the book to shake said missiles-looping, rolling, sharp turns, dives, climbs, corkscrews. One enemy even tried shooting at his missile as it came at him head-on. But he missed, and all four missiles hit their respective marks.

"Follow the flight leads!" called a nugget.

"Did that attack really come from a submarine?" asked another nugget in wonder.

"Missile vaporized in midair!" called Thunderhead.

"They're coming! They're still coming!" cried Chopper. Every nugget was at about 2,500 feet. And then...

"10 seconds to impact," reported Thunderhead. "8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, impact...now!" This time, there was the massive explosion they feared, accompanied by a huge technicolor smoke cloud. The next thing they heard were panicked screams from all the nuggets as they plunged to their deaths.

"They're all falling!" shouted a teary-eyed Grimm.

"Damn it..." sobbed Chopper.

Nagase was in too much shock to speak.

"We can't deal with the enemy fleet like this," conceded Thunderhead.

"No _mierda_, Sherlock!" screamed a furious Blaze.

Meanwhile, on Sand Island's western shoreline, PFC Michael Oxford was running across a war-torn beachfront. Dead soldiers' bodies, Osean and Yuktobanian alike, littered the normally pristine beach. The normally white sand was now red with the blood of those that had been killed. Bullets were flying every which way.

_It's a miracle I'm still alive_, thought "The Ox", as some of his friends liked to call him. _Why does almost everything have to come to this? Seems like every other day, we're fighting a major battle! When will it end?_ Several slugs shot right past the top of his head, so close he could feel the skeletal embrace of death. Eventually, however, he reached his destination: the comm station.

"This is Sand Island Base Defense!" he yelled into the radio. "Intense fighting along the coastline! We can't hold out much longer!" He turned around to see an entire battallion of Yuke troops marching right at him, AK-47s raised and pointing directly at him.

_Maria, get ready. I'm coming home._ He fixed his bayonet to the front of his M16 and took up the charge position. Saying a final, silent prayer for God to bless and protect his sister and two sons, he then let out a feral war cry and darted at the Yukes. Twenty gunshots sounded, and Michael Oxford was dead before he even started falling to the sand.

Back on the naval front, things weren't going much better.

"We have no choice," Thunderhead was saying. "Just weave throught the missiles and continue attacking the ships."

"Oh, yeah," spat Chopper, enraged, "'just weave through the missiles'. What are you, NUTS?"

"Blue Hound, this is Arkbird," came another voice through their helmets. "Requesting sonobuoy data link."

"Stand by," replied Blue Hound. "We're dropping a new sonobuoy."

"All remaining squadrons," said Nagase quietly, having just recovered from her shellshock, "rejoin into attack formation."

"As soon as that damned sub surfaces," raged Blaze, "I'm going to blast it out of the ocean and send it right back to the hell of Davy Jones' Locker, where it came from!"

"Blue Hound," called the Arkbird, "is that sonobuoy data available yet?"

"Roger," responded the Blue Hound, "we're sending it now. What are you going to do?" Then, the pilots heard a tiny "beep".

"Countdown to firing," informed the Arkbird. "5...4...3...2...1..." Next came that high-pitched whining again.

"The Arkbird shot a laser into the ocean!" reported Blue Hound. "Explosion in the water! It damaged the submerged Scinfaxi! Picking up sounds of main ballast below. The Scinfaxi's surfacing!"

"And about damned time!" growled Blaze.

Sure enough, there it was: Shaped not unlike the starship Enterprise (2), except the ends were reversed, and it was dark gray in color. The Scinfaxi, from the looks of it, had some impressive specs as far as subs went: It looked to be about 120 feet long, 40 feet wide, and just as high.

"It's huge..." said Nagase in awe.

"Looks like it's lost diving ability," noted Thunderhead. "It's floating like a cork. All units, commence attack!"

"Way ahead of you, Thunderhead," said Blaze. "Wardog, it is time for us to boldly go where no squadron has gone before!" (3)

"Easy, there, Captain Picard," warned Grimm. With that, they hurled themselves at the sub.

"Edge, Chopper, Archer," ordered Blaze, "take out its AA guns and SAMs. I'll destroy its burst missile launcher." Without another word, the four pilots went quickly to work. Immediately, the sub responded, launching UAV's into the sky.

"Chopper," called Blaze, "once you finish with the artillery, take Archer with you and destroy those drones. Edge, stay with me, and we'll take out the sub itself."

"Speaking of the devil," called Chopper, "all SAMs and AA guns destroyed. Archer, come with me." The Wyvern and Black Widow II shot into the sky. The Raptor and Terminator stayed low and battled the sub itself. Eventually, they all heard:

"Get clear! Arkbird firing laser!" Another high-pitched whine.

"Direct hit!" reported Blue Hound. "It ripped a massive hole! The sub appears to have lost the ability to launch additional aircraft."

"Blast it out of the..." growled Thunderhead, but stopped himself, as Blaze had already done just that, and the ship was starting to sink.

"...water," finished Thunderhead, just as the pilots heard an explosion, turned, and saw a huge spout of water where the wreck of the Scinfaxi used to be.

Back at the base, the pilots received the debriefing of the morning's battle.

**The Arkbird was successfully employed over the forward  
edge of the battle area.**

**The enemy amphibious force attacking Sand Island  
was repelled, and their invasion plans halted.**

**The underwater carrier Scinfaxi, a lethal enemy threat,  
was engaged and destroyed by the superior firepower of the Arkbird.**

**Having lost the support of the Scinfaxi,  
the remaining Yuktobanian forces retreated.**

**Furthermore, we are requesting reinforcements from Central Command  
to replace our squadron members lost in combat.**

In their dorm, Blaze was sitting on his bed with Nagase crying into his shoulder. Being honest with himself, he felt like crying, too. Too many good, young men had died today. Now it was Wardog's job to make sure that they had not died in vain, and he said as much to Nagase.

"I know," said Nagase haltingly. "And I'm sorry if this puts you off."

"Kei," soothed Blaze, "if I didn't have to be the guy in the squadron who never showed emotion, I'd be crying right back into your shoulder, and you can take that to the bank."

"They were so many..." sobbed Nagase. "And so young..."

"I know," said Blaze, valiantly fighting back his own tears.

"Edward," encouraged Kei, "if you want to cry, it's not a bad thing. It won't make you any less of a man." With that, Blaze wrapped his arms around Nagase's shoulders and gave in to his tear ducts. The tears came-boy, did they come. After about 10 minutes, they eventually stopped.

"Thanks for that, Kei," said Blaze, rubbing his eyes dry.

"Likewise to you, Edward," replied Nagase, doing the same.

"Call me Eddie," said Blaze. "It's how James has always referred to me."

"James?"

"Mobius 1. His full name, which I didn't find out until after the fact, is James Brandon Carlson."

"Wow. Good, strong name."

"I know. I told him as much."

"What did he say?"

"Never to use it within the squadron."

Nagase started laughing.

"I figured you'd like that," guessed Blaze.

"Yeah, and after a day like today, I could use a good laugh," chuckled Nagase.

"Well, as the title of the Ozzy album says, there's _No Rest For The Wicked_."

"Sadly. But at least we can sleep."

"True. Which we should probably be gettng around to right about now."

"Point: Eddie." With that, Nagase climbed down into her bunk and said goodnight. Blaze responded in kind, and Nagase shut off the light.

Back in the ocean, the disconstitute pieces of the Scinfaxi continued their painfully slow descent to the floor. A submarine snaked its way through them, bearing a striking resemblance to the Scinfaxi, in both appearance and name. In the main area, the vessel commander made his way to the comm station.

"Home Base, this is Hrimfaxi," he said. "Wreckage confirmed. The Scinfaxi is no more. Those four pilots are becoming quite a nuisance."

"Yes, they are," replied a voice on the other end. "When the time is right, we shall deal with them. But it is not now."

"When is the right time?"

_**"When they are most vulnerable, we shall utterly destroy them..."**_

1. If anyone can tell me where that quote originated, I would be so grateful. I've heard it so many times and don't know anything about it. SOMEONE HELP!

2. If you don't know about that ship, get out from under your rock.

3. Stolen from the same franchise that spawned the aforementioned ship.

A/N: OK, I am SO F*CKING SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG! I can't believe that writer's block would hit me as hard as it did! F*ck! But now I'm back, and I just need to update my Metroid story before I'm truly back on track.

TBC...

NEXT: Handful Of Hope


	9. Chapter 8: Handful Of Hope

Nagase woke up one day after the failed invasion of Sand Island to find Blaze staring out the window of their crew room with a wistful look on his face.

"Good morning, Edward," she said with a smile. Blaze turned to face her.

"Morning, Kei," he replied kindly, and though a small smile flitted across his face, his expression otherwise remained unchanged.

"Even a blind man," noticed Nagase, "could tell your mind is elsewhere. What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing in particular," responded Blaze. "Just wishing David was still here. He always knew exactly what to say during the tough times to get his trainees in the right mindset."

"David?" asked Nagase, puzzled.

"Cipher," expounded Blaze. "His full name was David Williamson. Outside of Galm Team and his training sessions, most called him Dave."

"You loved him," said Nagase. It was not a question.

"Oh, how I loved him," replied Blaze. "He was more of a father to me than my real father ever had the chance to be."

"What happened to him? Your real father, that is," asked Nagase, not sure she really wanted to know.

"He was shot down in the center of Kaluga 25 years ago, on his way back to home base from destroying a giant air fortress over the northern ocean (1), not far from the Razgriz Straits," said Blaze, a lone tear beginning to slowly make its way down his left cheek. "The crash itself did not kill him, but he suffered severe injuries. Donet City General Hospital tried and failed to save him."

"Oh, Blaze…" stuttered Nagase. "How old were you at the time?"

"Not even five months," said Blaze. "So I don't have any memories of him. But I've seen pictures, and let me tell you, I am a dead ringer for Arthur Randolph."

"Was he a good man?" asked Nagase.

"So my mother said."

"Is she still alive?"

"For now, yes. For how long, I can't say. (2) She's in November City General at the moment, laying in a diabetic coma."

"Yowch. Will she make it?"

"Short-term prognosis is good, but the doctors are still unsure if she'll come out of it."

"I'll pray for her."

"Thank you so much, Kei; that means a lot to me." At that moment, there came a knock on the door. Blaze went and opened it. There stood Grimm, looking happy as a lark, though this wasn't really saying much, since nowadays, that was how he usually looked.

"Good morning, Grimm," greeted Blaze. "You sleep OK last night?"

"Like a log, Captain," replied Grimm. Leaning slightly to Blaze's right, he added, "Good morning, Captain Nagase."

"Morning, Hans," returned Nagase. "What's new?"

"We're wanted in the briefing room," informed Grimm. "Captain Chopper's already there."

"Right behind you, Grimm," answered Blaze.

Five minutes later, Wardog was sitting in the briefing room when Orson Perrault walked in. The lights went out and the projector turned on.

**Chapter 8: Handful Of Hope**

Since we thwarted their invasion, we haven't seen any  
major offensive operation by the enemy for several  
weeks.

Almost like we're at peace again, eh, people?  
Anyway, let's start the briefing.

**Yuktobanian combat operations have been dormant  
since their failed large-scale invasion and the loss  
of their underwater carrier, Scinfaxi.**

**However, there is still concern over a possible infiltration  
by small-scale forces from the ground and the air.**

**You will split into flights of two and carry out patrols in the area  
from Akerson Hill to the northern coastline.**

**The airspace above the grain fields extending  
around Akerson is covered by our Osean AA system.**

**The system automatically fires missiles at  
any hostile aircraft it detects.**

**Patrol the northern coastline of Akerson Hill,  
which is out of our AA system's range.**

"Pilots, questions?" asked Perrault. No one spoke.

"Then get to your planes," he ordered. "Good hunting. Dismissed!"

A few hours later, Blaze's Mobius 1-style Raptor and Nagase's Yellow Squadron-style Terminator were flying to the north-northwest towards the northern Akerson coastline.

"That stupid geezer Base Commander just won't give us a break, will he?" came Chopper's voice over their helmet speakers.

"He's relying on us, First Lieutenant Chopper," reminded Grimm. "Hey, congratulations on your promotion, by the way."

"(chuckle) That's weird," deadpanned Chopper. "I don't feel any better…"

"Hey, you two," called out Nagase, "what's your current position?"

"300 miles south of you," replied Chopper.

"Any problems on your end?" asked Blaze.

"Not a one, Kid," answered Chopper. "Let's hope it stays that way for the rest of our time here."

"Amen to that," agreed Blaze. "Continue patrol. Let us know if you run into a problem."

"Roger that, Captain," put in Grimm. "Archer, over and out."

A few seconds later, Blaze and Nagase heard something else in their helmets. It was the last few words of a transmission from a plane that, from what they could make out, was in a fair amount of danger:

"…damaged, but the damage is light."

"Transmitting aircraft," called Nagase with no hesitation, "state your assignment and current status." Right on cue, what looked to be a C-5 transport plane began to materialize a couple of miles in front of them.

"Oh, finally, a response," the pilot said. "This is the Osean Air Force transport plane Mother Goose One. We are flying to the neutral country of…" The transmission faded out for a few seconds, but Blaze would later swear to everyone in Wardog that the last two words he heard at that moment were "North Point". But then the transmission came right back. The pilot was saying:

"We have the transmitter set to minimum power. Please come in closer so we can hear." At that, Blaze and Nagase threw on their boosters and zoomed up to meet the plane, which was indeed a C-5.

"Ah, I think this is you on our radar," said the pilot. "Can you see us?"

"We see you, Mother Goose One," answered Blaze.

"Would you please be so kind as to identify yourselves?" asked the pilot. "We just make it a point to know who we're flying with so we know who to thank when things go right."

"Or, if things don't go so well, so you have someone to blame," joked Blaze.

"Ain't that the truth," chuckled the pilot.

"I am Osean Air Force First Lieutenant Edward Jonathan Randolph, flying the Raptor," informed Blaze. "Callsign: Blaze. My counterpart in the Terminator is First Lieutenant Kei Nagase. Callsign: Edge."

"Ah, two of the Four Wings of Sand Island," said the pilot. "I'm Austin Bones, a former Lance Corporal in the Osean Marine Corps. It is an honor to fly with you fine pilots."

"No, Lance Corporal Bones," corrected Blaze, "the honor is ours. What can we do for you?"

"We'd like you to guide us to a safe passage corridor through the AA defenses," requested Bones. "We're on a top-secret mission, and I'm not transmitting a valid friendly ID signal to the ground-based automatic defense systems. As a result, a friendly SAM was mistakenly fired at us. We narrowly avoided a direct hit, but our radar system was destroyed, and we can't fly a safe path through the AA system."

At that, Wardog got a transmission from Sand Island:

**Guide the transport plane through the  
AA system's radar coverage and take it  
to Akerson Hill.**

**The transport is on a top-secret mission,  
so its ID signal has not been registered  
in the AA system's database.**

**As a result, if the transport is picked up  
by the AA system, it may be shot down  
by our own missile fire.**

**The engagement zone of this ground-based  
AA system is displayed on your radar.**

**Due to combat damage, the transport's  
radar system is inoperable, and its  
maneuverability restricted.**

**Guide the plane so it stays out of the  
AA system's engagement zone.**

As soon as Sand Island signed off, Chopper came on sounding slightly worried.

"…Uh," he began, "the air defense command just received multiple radar hits on an enemy formation closing on your position. First bad guys we've seen crossing the pond for a while. Warning alarms are goin' off like mad, but we're the only ones near enough to intercept 'em in time. Hold on, baby," he called out, trying, and failing, to sound badass, "we're comin' to your rescue!"

"Understood," confirmed Nagase. "We're counting on you two."

"You've done us proud so far, boys," added Blaze. "Don't let us down now."

"We won't, Captain," assured Grimm. "We'll be there in about ten minutes."

"I'll hold you to that, Grimm," joked Blaze with a chuckle. "Blaze, over and out."

"Keep one eye on the transport craft, Blaze," reminded Nagase.

"Already on it, Edge," replied Blaze. Without warning, a new voice came over the radio, one that was unfamiliar to all parties:

"OK, I've got him on my radar."

"Just like the intelligence said," said another voice.

"The radio's picking up the enemy's voice!" said Grimm, sounding scared and confused.

Quipped Chopper, "These guys sound as beautiful as Thunderhead. Sweet as a rose, I tell ya."

"Don't let him hear you say that, Chopper," chuckled Blaze.

"Kid," admonished Chopper, "do you really think I give a damn WHAT he does and does not hear me say?"

"If you don't now," warned Blaze, "you will when you get stripped of your promotion."

"Man, I hate that you can win an argument with one sentence," whined Chopper.

"Be glad I can't do it without using verbs," laughed Blaze. "Now get your asses over here."

"Don't let up just because it's a transport plane," warned a third enemy voice. "If we take out this guy, they won't just give us a medal-they'll build a STATUE in our honor."

"This cargo's certainly worth that much," concurred the second enemy voice.

"Is that the enemy speaking?" wondered Nagase. "What are these guys talking about?"

"Don't worry about that," said Bones, in a tone that was clearly meant to gently remind Wardog that he was still there. "We need your escort. We're completely defenseless."

"Well now," noted Chopper, "this is turnin' out to be a weird little race against the enemy."

"That it is," agreed Blaze. "But like all races, this is a race that we must win."

"Mother Goose One," adressed Nagase, "any problems on your end?"

"No problems," answered Bones, "but we'd like to get out of this airspace ASAP."

"_No hay problema_," assured Blaze. "Just stick tight to us and we'll do the rest."

They were now fully ensconced in the AA sytem's coverage area. Blaze took a look at his radar and mentally plotted out the course he would take. At most spots, they would have plenty of room, but towards the end, going off by even so much as one degree meant they were likely to be short one transport plane when they got out to the north.

"Mother Goose One," instructed Nagase, "push to radio frequency 136 MHz."

"Roger," acknowledged Bones. "Switching. And obviously, since my plane's damaged, I can't put too much stress on the airframe. As much as you can, Blaze and Edge, try to fly in a straight line for me."

"Blaze will lead the way, Mother Goose One," replied Nagase. "I'm going trail-and-follow; act as your rear guard."

"Will do," agreed Bones. "Blaze, you can still see us, right?"

"Correct," affirmed Blaze.

"Roger," said Bones. "Please show us the way."

"I never thought the skies over our own country could be so unfriendly," he added as Blaze reached the halfway point of the first U-turn and began to straighten out into the next stretch.

"It's unsettling, isn't it?" asked Blaze.

"Very much so," affirmed Bones, as Blaze entered the next U-turn. "And the fact that we can't see makes this twice as scary."

"At least Leatherface (3) isn't hiding anywhere near here," joked Blaze.

"So true," agreed Bones with a chuckle as Blaze came out of the second U-turn and prepared to thread the needle between two particularly large AA coverage areas.

"If we can make it out to the north," reminded Nagase, "we'll be safe. Do you know the way, Blaze?"

"Plotted it out just before we entered the EZ," assured Blaze.

"Roger," answered Nagase, and fell back another few hundred feet.

"That's good," praised Bones. "I appreciate that you're minimzing your turn rate."

"I'm just glad I have enough room here TO minimze my turn rate," answered Blaze. "Shame you weren't recognized by the AA system, though."

"Yeah, I'm blind as a bat here thanks to that damned missile," reminded Bones. "I'm relying on you to lead me to safety."

"Well, you won't have to wait much longer," put in Nagase. "We'll be out of the AA defense system's coverage shortly." Right on cue:

"Warning! We have an oil pressure problem on the right engine!"

"I'll take the controls," said Bones. "You check the instruments for me. Look forward and take a deep breath. Stay calm."

"It's OK," said the other voice, who Blaze could only guess was the co-pilot. "It was just a sensor malfunction."

Not too long after that, they were finally out of danger.

"This is Mother Goose One," hailed Bones. "We have successfully navigated through the AA system. Thank you."

"No trouble, Lance Corporal Bones," answered Blaze.

"However," added Bones, "I'd like to ask for your continued escort."

"Enemy spotted on radar," alerted Nagase. "Coming head-on."

"Let's take them out," ordered Blaze. He looked to make sure of where the transport craft was and saw two more planes zooming towards them.

"Chopper team has arrived," confirmed Nagase.

"Hey, Kid," said Chopper, "we're under your command now." As he finished saying this, his plane, which was now patterned with tiger stripes, pulled up alongside Blaze.

"New paint job, I see," said Blaze.

"I got bored with just the straight gray," replied Chopper, and left it at that.

"Did we make the time limit, Captain?" asked a nervous Grimm.

"With ten seconds to spare," replied Blaze. "You did good."

"Thank you, Captain," said Grimm. "Now, what should we do about these enemies?"

"Form up and we will meet them head-on," answered Blaze. "After the first pass, disperse freely and take them all out. If you need to, feel free to use your special weapons."

"Roger that, Kid," answered Chopper. "Forming on your wing."

"Mother Goose One," said Nagase, "we'll take care of him. Please separate at maximum speed!"

"Please," said Bones softly, "I'm counting on you."

"Don't panic," soothed Nagase. "We'll protect you no matter what. Keep your current vector."

"Roger," said Bones, but now he had to struggle to make himself heard over a warning alarm that was blaring in the cockpit. "Roger. ...Agh, damn it!"

"Your speed's decreasing," called Nagase. "What's the matter?"

"Mechanical trouble," answered Bones. "I'm losing thrust on engine one."

"See if you can get it under control whilst we take out these fighters," instructed Blaze as the first wave of enemy fighters approached.

"I'll do what I can," answered Bones. "Power! Give me more speed!" he added to one of his crew.

Meanwhile, Blaze had taken out the first two enemy planes head-on with a pair of XMAA's. The squadron was now breaking up and going after the other twelve planes that had also come along. The first enemy of these twelve that Blaze faced proved to be a very wily foe, as the first three times his missles locked on, the enemy was able to shake them off at the last second by diving or climbing at an extreme rate. Eventually, Blaze had had enough. He backed off, and just before the enemy got out of XMAA range, let one loose and started chasing after it at top speed. The plane dodged the XMAA, but by the time he shook it off, Blaze was inside gun range. A quick burst, and a loud explosion signaled Blaze's latest kill. This plane must have been the captain, because the other two planes he faced fell much more easily. And just before the explosions happened, Blaze caught sight of a puff of smoke from each plane right where the cockpits were located-the pilots were able to bail out just in time.

The other Wardog pilots took out their planes fairly quickly, and before long, the picture was clear of all hostile aircraft. But just as they were about to inform Bones of this, they heard:

"Hey, get back in your seat. Don't approach the...hey, hey, what are you doing?" Then, gunshots and a death rattle.

"Hey! It's Dutch rolling!" noted Chopper. Then, a new voice came on:

"Uh...this is transport plane...uh...Mother Goose One. The Captain's been shot."

"What?" cried Chopper.

"There was a spy in the crew," informed the man. "Uh-oh, two of the engines have shut down." There was something remarkably familiar about that voice, or so it felt to Blaze. He was just about to ask who this man was when:

"Hey!" called Chopper. "What kinda cargo you got in there? Is it something dangerous?"

There was no response.

"Hey, you there?" called Chopper urgently.

"The Captain's dead," informed the man, "and the co-pilot was wounded by a stray bullet. Tommy's holding the stick now, but...he's just a secretary. He's never piloted a plane before."

"So who are you?" asked Blaze, before Chopper could speak again.

"I...I guess you would call me...the cargo on this plane," replied the man haltingly. "Could you tell me how to control this thing? I'll relay everything to him."

Nagase immediately took control of the situation, saying, "Lower your altitude. Prepare for emergency landing."

Now she sounded like she had turned into a step-by-step instruction manual:

"Put your flaps down. That'll lower your airspeed. Can you find your flap lever?"

"Flap lever," said Mr. Cargo, as if to himself, "...is that it? Oh, no, that one, Tommy. Pull that one." Right on cue, down came the flaps and the C-5 began to descend.

"Wait a minute," said Chopper to himself out loud. "An emergency landing? Here? The ground's full of electric generator windmills."

"Could you clear those out for us?" asked Mr. Cargo.

"Let's do it," said Blaze quietly.

"Whaaaat?" yelped Chopper.

"We've got no other choice," reasoned Nagase.

"OK," said Mr. Cargo, "let's do it. Are you still there, Ma'am? With the lovely voice? Uh, Miss...?"

"First Lieutenant Kei Nagase...Sir," she replied. "With me are First Lieutenants Edward Randolph and Hans Grimm, callsigns Blaze and Archer, respectively."

"Ah, and a lovely name as well," said Mr. Cargo, apparently having only noticed Nagase's name. Right on cue:

"And I'm Chopper!" This, with enthusiasm aplenty.

"That's a-good name, too," replied Mr. Cargo, though it was painfully obvious to Blaze that the man was battling not to laugh.

"(chuckle) I like you, man," said Chopper.

"Tommy's going to try landing now. He's doing his best, but as I said earlier, he's never done this before. I...I don't know if we'll make it, so I just want to thank you all before we go."

"You'll be OK," soothed Grimm.

"Yes, you'll do fine," added Nagase. Meanwhile, Blaze had been going around clearing out a line of windmills so the transport could land.

"Tommy," advised Mr. Cargo, "those broken windmills will be our guideposts."

"Almost there," he added a few seconds later. "You're doing great, Tommy. Those pilots oughta recruit you."

"This is gonna be difficult," Grimm said to himself. "I have to aim carefully."

"They're gonna be in for a pretty hard landing," noted Chopper.

"It'd be a lot harder for them without someone to walk them through it," reasoned Blaze.

"That's true," conceded Chopper.

At that, Blaze destroyed one last windmill and said, "Blaze here. That should be a long enough strip for you to land safely, Mr. Cargo."

"Thank you, Blaze," said Mr. Cargo. "I'd shake your hand, but considering the circumstances, I'd have to be Reed Richards (4) in order to make that happen."

Blaze laughed at that.

"That's a pretty good runway there," observed Mr. Cargo. "A fine place for a landing. Altitude...100 feet. Almost there, I think."

"This job's starting to wear me out a little," said Chopper drily.

"Well, we'll be back at base before you know it," soothed Blaze.

"Archer here," reported Grimm. "Surrounding airspace is clear of enemy aircraft. Everything's A-OK."

"That's a pretty good emergency landing, I'd say," noted Chopper, for the C-5 had touched down and was now rolling smoothly to a stop.

"Mother Goose One, landing confirmed," reported Nagase, once the transport had come to a full stop. "Are you all right, Mr. Cargo?"

"Uh, yeah," replied Mr. Cargo. "That was a pretty smooth ride, actually."

"Mr. Cargo," pressed Nagase, "I've got something I'd like to ask you."

"What is it?"

"The bird of peace...Did you really have to use that beautiful white bird for this war?"

And Blaze now understood who Mr. Cargo truly was.

"Do you understand what I'm saying?" finished Nagase.

"Yeah," replied Mr. Cargo.

"I wanted to see your...your bridge of peace span into outer space."

"It's still possible. Thanks to the bird, we're on even terms now. I'm trying to get to North Point because I believe we have a chance."

"To hold talks in neutral territory."

"Right. Communication is vital."

"So, I can still believe in you, then? I don't want to see any more young men or women lose their lives."

"Me neither." Just then:

"Uh-oh. I'm out of fuel." This, from Chopper. Then, a brand-new voice:

"This is Captain Ashley Bernitz, leader of the Osean Air Force 8492nd Squadron. We observed the emergency landing on our radar. Can you see us?"

Blaze could, indeed, see them: four F-15S/MTDs heading for the immediate airspace. He said as much to the squadron.

"You can leave the rest to us. We'll provide support until the transport plane's crew is rescued."

"Roger, Captain Bernitz," responded Nagase. "Take care of them for us."

"Sure thing," replied Bernitz. With that, Wardog peeled off and exited the combat zone. As they were refueling on the way back to Sand Island, they got a short debriefing:

**We've received a sitrep from Central Command.**

**The crew onboard the transport plane you  
encountered during your patrol has been  
rescued by the 8492nd Squadron.**

**That is currently all the information we have.**

_After my article, "The Four Wings of Sand Island"  
was published to wide acclaim, I grew bolder._

In the middle of a hallway inside Sand Island Naval Base, a well-honed camera zoomed in on a portly man with an ominous air about him.

_Here was a profile view of the Base Commander,  
the "emperor" of this base._

As the man glanced toward the camera, it was knocked away with a gentle yet firm "Don't." When the camera came back on, it was looking at Hamilton, who was saying:

"He's in a bad mood today. If he catches you, he'll have your head." With that, he straightened his hat and walked away.

"What happened?" Genette called. Hamilton shrugged, but otherwise did not acknowledge the question, and disappeared around the corner.

Later, in the crew room, Genette was watching Nagase working on her book.

"The Arkbird..." she said out of nowhere.

"Huh?" asked Genette, confused.

"The white bird in outer space," Nagase clarified. "With Yuktobania outclassing us in firepower, it was the President's one trump card in the peace negotiations. And now...it's fallen right out of our hands."

"So you're saying we don't know how long the war will drag on?"

_The Arkbird, a superweapon  
capable of attacking from space,  
far beyond the reach of the enemy._

_Its power supply was destroyed  
by explosives planted inside  
a supply shipment launched  
from Earth._

_Once again, the balance of power  
had tipped toward Yuktobania._

"So 'Mr. Cargo' was President Harling the whole time," Blaze was saying to Nagase in their dorm later that night. "I thought I recognized his voice."

"I'm surprised you didn't pick up on the name 'Mother Goose One', Edward," jibed Nagase.

"Wasn't even paying attention," admitted Blaze. He then adopted a mock-dumb voice. "I are totally observant!" Nagase laughed at this.

"And here I was thinking you didn't have a sense of humor," said Nagase between laughs.

"No sense of humor? _Moi?_" cried Blaze. "Kei, did you NOT hear what I said to Grimm just as he was taking off that morning?"

"Sorry," said Nagase. "Was too busy trying to keep an eye out for more enemies."

"OK, I'll give you that one."

"Thanks." Nagase then looked out the window. "Holy crud, it got dark. We should be getting to bed."

"Then let's do just that," said Blaze, already moving to get the lights. Nagase was climbing into bed when the lights went off.

"Good night, Edward."

"Good night, Kei."

Nagase was asleep almost as soon as she hit the mattress, but Blaze lay awake in his bunk for quite some time. He hadn't noticed it until just now, but every time he and Nagase had these bedtime chats, there was this weird feeling he was having trouble explaining to himself that came into play. He wrestled with it for a good, long time before it hit him like a tank, simple and irrefutable:

_It's official...I'm attracted to this woman._

* * *

A/N: OK, I won't even bother explaining the multitude of events that kept me from updating for so long. I will just apologize for my extended leave of absence and ease myself back into this world.

1: For those of you who are not extreme Ace Combat nerds, this is the last mission of the first game in the series. Yes, in this story, Blaze's dad is the first ace.

2: Slight twist on a line from Mortal Kombat: Annihilation.

3: Serial killer of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" fame.

4: For those who don't know, Reed Richards is Mr. Fantastic. He can stretch any part of his body to amazing lengths and is a science/chem nerd to the extreme. Copyright to Marvel Comics.

To be continued...

Next: Lit Fuse.


	10. Chapter 9: Lit Fuse

Blaze woke up on the morning of All Saints' Day with a feeling of foreboding. He'd had the nightmare again last night, and the last time he'd had the nightmare, it was right before a flight mission during which they lost a lot of people. He was starting to think it was a premonition. As he started to get dressed, he realized Nagase was nowhere to be found. This worried him, until he saw a small piece of paper lying on Nagase's mattress. He picked it up and turned it over to read:

_Edward, get to the briefing room. Now.  
We're going across the pond.  
Perrault will explain further._

_-Kei_

What immediately caught Blaze's eye was that Nagase had signed her name in cursive, connecting the tail of the "I" to the shape of a heart.

_Oh, boy,_ thought Blaze uncertainly. _This may or may not mean something. I would love for it TO mean something, but a lot of ladies I once knew routinely used hearts in their signatures. I guess I'll have to wait and see what happens._ With that, he made his way to the briefing room, where he found Nagase and the rest of Wardog sitting in their usual seats. He sat down and was about to ask Nagase about the heart when Perrault walked in.

**Chapter 9: Lit Fuse**

Our army is finally ready to conduct a  
large-scale counterattack against Yuktobania.

If we succeed, we'll never have to face the humiliation  
of those Yukes trampling on our homeland again.

The goal of this operation is simple:  
to invade and occuply the Yuktobanian mainland.

**We're going to conduct a large-scale amphibious assault  
against Yuktobania on the Bastok Peninsula.**

**This mission will be called "Operation Footprint".**

**The landing force will be selected from the  
1st and 2nd Osean Army Battallions.**

**They will be divided into four companies-  
A, B, C, and D-  
and trasported to the area via landing craft.**

**Upon landing, each division will fan out and  
destroy the enemy bases scattered throughout  
the area, then rendezvous and reform into  
a single large force unit to assault  
****the final target: the fortress.**

**The Yuktobanian defense positions along the coast  
are tightly dug in, and we have concluded that  
air attacks alone will not be enough to destroy them.**

**Ergo, Operation Footprint will be a synchronized  
air and ground attack to neutralize these positions.**

**It is critical that you follow the specific targeting instructions  
of the ground commander to maximize the effects of your attacks.**

**We are expecting poor weather conditions and fierce resistance  
from the Yuktobanian defense forces.**

**The fortress is protected by pillboxes and a defensive wall.**

**Provide close air support for the ground forces, and get  
as many soldiers as possible inside.**

"I wish you the best of luck in battle," said Perrault, but Blaze was unsure he really meant it. "Dismissed!"

* * *

Later that afternoon, Wardog was flying their usual planes towards the Bastok Peninsula, ready for battle.

"Terry," said a scout on the ground. "Got something I need to tell you."

"The enemy's right in front of us, Scott," admonished another voice. "Save it for later!"

"Yeah," conceded Scott. "I guess you're right. Later, then."

"The four companies will now land at their designated beach heads," informed Thunderhead. "Commence close air support."

"Yes, sir," responded Blaze. "Wardog, you know what to do. Divide and conquer."

"Roger," affirmed Nagase.

"This is Company D," said a third voice from the ground. "We're almost at the beach."

"Go," said Chopper, as though playing cheerleader. "Move forward! You're almost there. That's it. Row! Keep rowing!"

"To hell with this war..." he added as an afterthought more than anything.

"This is Company A," reported one of the ground forces. "Landing successful! Deploy the armored vehicles now!"

"Move, move!" Chopper was shouting. "Land already! Hit that beach and start running! There's no time to kiss the ground!"

"Chopper," ordered Blaze, taking a page out of Mobius 1's playbook, "shut the hell up and let the ground forces do what they came here to do! I hate this war as much as you do, but there's nothing we can do to stop it at the moment!"

"Damn it!" growled Chopper defiantly. But he did, mostly, keep his mouth shut from then on.

"HQ," reported a ground soldier, "the landing site is in a state of total chaos."

Blaze, at this point, was destroying an AH-64 Yuke attack helicopter that had been trying to sneak up on the ground forces from the mainland.

"Enemy landing confirmed," reported a Yuke soldier on a widecast. "Request permission to fire!"

"This is Company B," reported another section of the ground forces. "Our attack's getting held up by fierce fire from the bunkers. Halt the enemy fire with an air strike. We'll charge in at the same time!"

"This is Blaze," answered Blaze. "I'm on my way to you, Company B. Watch for the light blue Raptor."

"Roger that, Blaze," replied Company B. "We'll keep an eye out for you."

"Wardog," Blaze added to the pilots, "each of you will take guard positions with a company and provide close air support for them when they need it. Archer, you take Company A."

"Roger, Captain," replied Grimm. "Company A, this is Archer. As of now, the venom of the Black Widow is at your disposal."

"How fitting is that?" said a voice on the ground.

"What do you mean, Company A?" asked Blaze.

"My company is being backed up by my little brother," replied the Company A soldier.

"Oh," said Blaze, surprised. "Well, how about that?"

"My sentiments exactly," agreed Grimm. "Don't worry, Alex. You and your company won't have to worry about a thing whilst I'm in the air."

"I'll hold you to that, Hans," said Alex with a chuckle.

"Chopper, you guard Company C," instructed Blaze.

"On it, Kid," responded Chopper solemnly. "Company C, Chopper here. The agility of the Wyvern is yours to command."

"Roger that, Chopper," answered Company C. "We're relying on you."

"Kid," said Chopper suddenly. "If the pattern I'm seeing is any indication, would it be a safe bet that you'll be guarding Company B?"

"You'd win that bet," answered Blaze. "Which leaves Company D wide open for you, Edge."

"Already there, Captain," reported Nagase. "Company D, Edge reporting for duty. My Terminator's sheer firepower is now under your control."

"Thank you, Edge," responded Company D. "You might have to use it on our Captain, though." With that, he took on a faux-old guy-Kalugan voice. "He's a freakin' monster." (1)

"Duly noted, Company D," said Nagase with a laugh.

"OK, Wardog," said Blaze sharply, "let's take this damned fortress!" With that, Wardog began drenching their respective bunkers with machine gun fire. Not very long afterward, the four bunkers exploded and the ground forces began their charge forward. But just as they reached the defensive positions:

"Bunkers opening fire again! Retreat! Fall back!"

"On our way, soldiers," assured Blaze. "Wardog, did you catch that? Air attacks can only silence the bunkers temporarily."

"Roger," replied Nagase. "It looks like they can only be destroyed with the help of the ground forces."

"Then let's make sure they stay around long enough to give us that help," said Grimm.

"That was my line, Archer," joked Blaze, "but you read my mind. Let's do it." Each pilot went back to their positions and continued to move forward.

"Damn," said Terry from earlier, "it's like they're plowing the ground with bullets!" This, at a particularly persistent bunker about halfway to the fortress.

"Don't get hit, Terry," reminded the scout named Scott. "I still got something I gotta tell you!"

"I know, I know, messenger boy," said Terry, exasperated. "You hang in there, too!"

Meanwhile, Wardog, noticing a lull in the bunker fire, had gone ahead to take out what seemed to be a never-ending slew of enemy craft, and were just now coming up on a small airfield about 20 miles to the north of the fortress.

"See those gas silos at the northwest corner?" asked Blaze. "Let's take those out."

"May I do the honors, Captain?" asked Grimm.

"Feel free," answered Blaze. With that, Grimm darted ahead and dumped a few well-placed missiles into the silos, which instantly transformed into a massive fireball, incinerating the entire airfield.

"Good shot, Red Two," (2) said Blaze under his breath.

"Come again, Captain?" said Grimm, confused.

"Good shot, Grimm," replied Blaze.

"Oh," muttered Grimm. "Thank you, Captain."

"Let's get back to the ground forces," said Chopper. "If I know them, they need our help, thanks to their just storming in, head-on, following orders."

"But that's how war is usually fought," reminded Blaze.

"Yeah," replied Chopper, "and that's why I hate it."

Blaze said nothing, because he felt the same way. Saying otherwise would just make him a hypocrite, and he flat refused to be a hypocrite.

"How could the President authorize an escalation of the war like this?" Chopper was saying to himself out loud. "This is insane. We'll get bogged down in this forever." Turning his attention to Blaze, he asked,

"Hey, Kid, that Mr. Cargo guy was the President, right?"

"That's right," confirmed Blaze.

"Man," mused Chopper, "I thought I could believe in him back then. I had no idea he was such a wuss."

"No," said Nagase quietly. "He's not..."

By now, Wardog had rejoined with the ground forces, who had made their way to the final outer fortress wall.

"Uh..." said a timid voice from the ground. "This is Company D. I have a favor to ask: Could you bomb our monster of a Captain from the air for us?"

"On my way," said Chopper, laughing.

"Great!" cried the ground soldier, sounding relieved. "I'll send you the coordinate-" Then, static.

"Uh, never mind, I guess," said Chopper sheepishly, returning to his patrol circle with Nagase over Companies C and D.

"Attention, overhead aircraft," came a crisp voice from below, "this is the ground forces. Make sure you don't drop any bombs on us!"

"The wiseass in me is bursting to call out, 'What do you mean? We don't have any bombs!'" chuckled Blaze. "But since we're in such a serious situation, I will only say, don't worry about a thing."

"Roger," said the soldier with a chuckle of his own. "We trust you." Then along came another voice:

"This is Second Lieutenant Jack Rubin of Company B to our allied planes. Will you help us make our Captain's last job one to remember?"

Blaze was so touched, all he could do was let out an emphatic "Yes, sir!"

"This is Rubin," replied the soldier. "We owe you one. Marching to the sound of air support bombings...Pretty fitting for the Captain."

"Damned straight," agreed Blaze.

"Attention, allied pilots," informed the Captain of Company A, "the ground forces have reached the outer fortress wall. We will begin assault after bomb impact from the collective air strike!"

"Then let's not waste any more time," ordered Blaze. "Wardog, attack those pillboxes!"

"Roger," chorused the three pilots. With that, the final assault on the fortress began. Within minutes, the ground forces had skewered the pillboxes and were now coming together into one whole unit.

"Amazing..." marveled Nagase. "I don't think I'll ever be as good as Blaze."

"Kei, Kei, Kei," laughed Blaze, "you give me WAY too much credit. I just go where I feel like going, and I know how to use my plane to its maximum effectiveness. Learn how your plane is best used, and very soon, you will be BETTER than me. And I say that to all of you."

"You are being far too modest, Edward," admonished Nagase.

"No," corrected Blaze. "I just hate to brag."

"You know," informed Nagase, "I quite like that in a man."

_Oh, shit,_ thought Blaze in extreme anticipation. _This could really lead somewhere. Score one for Eddie!_

"Allied planes," informed the new leader of the ground forces, "we're moving into position to attack the last bunker."

"Don't even bother positioning yourselves," ordered Blaze. "Just charge forward. Edge and I-well, put it this way: Blink and you'll miss it." With that, Blaze and Nagase positioned themselves so that each was coming in from the far side of a bunker. Throwing on their afterburners, they took aim, and just as the ground forces got within firing range of the pillboxes, the two pilots let loose with everything they had. The pillboxes blew up inside of a picosecond, and the ground forces were able to capture the final part of the fortress without incident.

"All bunkers silenced," reported the ground leader. "We've captured the entire fortress!"

"Good," grumbled Chopper. "Let's just get the hell out of here and go home. This has been the worst day ever."

"Did you copy that, Air Force?" asked the ground leader. "We really appreciate all your support."

"It was nothing, ground forces," answered Blaze. "Just doing our jobs." Turning his attention to Thunderhead, he added, "Thunderhead, can we go back home now?"

"Indeed, you can," answered Thunderhead. "You did good work today, people. Return to base and get some rest. You've earned it."

* * *

On the ground, in the middle of the final fortress area, Terry Grimes was standing in between the final two pillboxes, watching Wardog fly off, back in the general direction of Osea, when he remembered that his friend Scott had a message for him. He grabbed his radio and said into it:

"All right, things are a bit calmer now. What's on your mind?" No response. "Hey, Scott!" Then:

"Hey, chill out...Dad. Congratulations!"

Terry's heart skyrocketed up into his throat. "What? You're kidding me, right?"

"Not at all, buddy," confirmed Scott. "You've got a bouncing baby boy. Hurry up and give her a call!"

* * *

Back at Sand Island, Wardog's debriefing looked like this:

**After intense fighting, the landing force captured  
and secured the fortress target.**

**Thanks to the success of Operation Footprint,  
we have secured the southeastern coast of Yuktobania.**

**We've decided to make the fortress our first forward base on Yuktobania  
as we expand our combat operations inside the country.**

**After we complete construction of our defensive positions,  
our ground forces will continue their advance to the final target:  
the capital city of Cinigrad.**

* * *

Later that night, Blaze and Nagase were in their dorm, reviewing the day's efforts.

"Is is just me, or did Chopper seem especially depressed today?" asked Blaze.

"He's always been like that," answered Nagase. "I suppose I can understand how he feels, if not even more so than he himself does."

"What do you mean?"

"His father was shot down and killed just after the Belkan War by Joshua Bristow, during the failed uprising of the organization known as A World With No Boundaries."

"Joshua Bristow? THE Joshua Bristow? Head of the legendary Wizard Squadron?"

"The very same."

"I used to look up to him almost as much as Cipher. Wow. Is he still alive?"

"No, he was killed in prison last year."

"Yowch. By who?"

"Would you believe, Chopper's uncle?"

A highly pregnant pause. Then:

"That's messed up."

"Pardon my English, but no shit, Sherlock."

"Hey, that's my line!" A playful punch to Nagase's shoulder, then Blaze remembered something Nagase had just said.

"So how can you understand Chopper's depression?" he asked.

"You may or may not know this," began Nagase, "but my mother was one of the scientists that designed Stonehenge. Just before Mobius 1 went after it, she and a bunch of other scientists were flying to Usean territory when some Erusian planes attacked them. He saved them and, in exchange, she gave him all the dirt on Stonehenge."

"You know, he actually told me about that particular flight. That was your mother, huh?"

"Yep."

"Well, damn. Glad to know she made it through the war."

"As was I. Right now, she's in a lab somewhere. What she's working on, I don't know."

"Sounds like the two of you are close."

"Very."

"Now, I have one more question to ask before we hit the rack tonight."

"Ask away."

"The heart on your signature. Do you always do that?"

"Yeah. It helps me to keep all my emotions intact."

"To stop your dehumanization. I can understand that."

"I thought you might. But why do you ask?"

"I used to know a bunch of women who did that routinely. Just wanted to make sure you're not trying to tell me something. Not that I'd mind if you were, but I make it a point not to get involved with any women in my squadron. Remember, I shot down my last girlfriend by accident?"

"Yeah."

"That's why."

"Ah. Well, whatever works."

"Exactly. OK, let's get some shut-eye." With that, Nagase climbed slowly into her bunk as Blaze went to get the lights.

"Good night, Edward."

"Sleep well, Kei."

Blaze fell asleep almost instantly when he hit his mattress, but Nagase lay awake for a short while, very deep in thought.

_He likes me; even a blind man could see that. The question is, do I like him back enough that I would want to give myself to him?_

She lay there, weighing the options; after about thirty minutes, she found the answer and finally fell asleep with a small smile on her face.

_It'll probably have to wait until after the war...but hell, yes._

* * *

A/N: OK, both pilots know for a fact that they want to give a relationship a try. Will it happen anytime soon?

1: Picture Augustus Distephano (don't ask how I remember his name) telling Papa Joe Yakavetta about Il Duce ("The Boondock Saints") and you get the idea.

2: Originally said by Wedge Antilles, praising a wingman for taking down a TIE...Interceptor, I wanna say.

TBC...

Next: Blind Spot, and the introduction of four allies that will prove to be invaluable to Wardog in the coming months.


	11. Chapter 10: Blind Spot

When Blaze woke up the day after the invasion of Yuktobania, the first thing he saw was that Nagase was nowhere to be found. He got dressed, and as he was pulling his shirt over his head, he noticed a note on the door to the hallway. He ripped it off the door to read:

_Edward. Base entrance. Now.  
You'll see why when you get there._

_-Kei_

Five minutes later, Blaze was walking into the main hallway and sure enough, there was Nagase standing right there with four men who Blaze knew very well by sight. The man who was nearest Blaze began walking toward him, holding out his hand.

"Been a long time, Eddie," he said jovially, as Blaze's face began to resemble the Cheshire Cat. (1)

"Too damned long, James," agreed Blaze, taking the man's hand and pulling him into a hug. "Glad to see you haven't aged a day since Megalith."

"You might not see it outwardly," replied James Carlson, "but on the inside, the once-legendary Mobius 1 is still just a man."

"What do you mean, James?" asked Blaze.

"I have anaplastic large-cell lymphoma, (2) Ed," said Mobius 1 in a voice that was barely above a whisper. "Treatable, and by all means curable, but still..."

(3) "Surely," said Blaze in mild shock, "you can't be serious."

"I'm dead serious, Ed," answered Mobius 1, "and don't call me 'Shirley'." (/3)

As the two men shared a hearty laugh, Nagase cut in.

"So who are the other pilots?" she asked.

"Oh, sorry," chuckled Mobius 1. "Where are my manners? This," he began, indicating the man directly in front of Nagase, "is Larry Foulke, the man they call Solo Wing Pixy, or just Pixy."

"How do you do?" asked Pixy politely.

"Very well, thank you," answered Nagase, shaking Pixy's hand. Pixy then turned towards Blaze, and a smile began to grace his features.

"Now, you have got to be Blaze," he said. "Both Cipher and James here spoke very highly of you."

"And Cipher did likewise of you," replied Blaze, taking Pixy's hand and shaking it. Amazingly, apart from the fact that his hair was now gray, Pixy looked indistinguishable from the man in the picture Cipher had shown Blaze all those years ago.

"I'm surprised," said Pixy. "But that's a story for another time."

"Indeed," agreed Mobius 1. Indicating the man to Pixy's immediate right, he said, "This is Rainer Altman, formerly the #2 pilot of Gelb Squadron in the Belkan Air Force, 5th Air Division, 23rd TFS."

"I've heard of you," said Nagase, as the two shook hands. "Didn't you fight Cipher and Pixy over Directus?"

"You are correct," said Altman slowly. "I'm an author nowadays, but I still love to fly."

"And I'm glad to have the honor of meeting a legendary Belkan Ace," put in Blaze, as he, too, shook Altman's hand.

"No, Mr. Randolph," admonished Altman, "the honor is mine."

"Please, call me Blaze," requested Blaze.

"Fair enough," answered Altman.

"And THIS fine pilot over here," finished Mobius 1 with a flourish, "...well...when you hear his callsign, he'll need no introduction, I guaran-damn-tee it."

Shaking both Nagase and Blaze's hands, the man introduced himself:

"My name is Roger Gaul, from Erusea, but you know me better simply as Yellow 13."

"What?" cried out Blaze and Nagase simultaneously.

"I thought you died at Megalith," stuttered Blaze.

"As did I," concurred Nagase.

"I would have," explained Yellow 13, "if not for two things. The first was the fact that a Raptor got hit by two missiles that were chasing me not ten minutes after the battle began."

Blaze just stared in shock.

"I take it you were the one that launched those missiles?" asked Yellow 13 sympathetically.

"I was," croaked Blaze. "The plane that was hit...was piloted by the woman I was in love with at the time." A few tears began to make their way down Blaze's face.

"You have my sympathies and condolences," said Yellow 13, putting a calming hand on Blaze's shoulder.

"Thanks," answered Blaze, wiping his eyes dry. "But didn't James get you later on in the fight?"

"He did," replied Yellow 13, "and although I managed to bail out in time and make it to the shores of Megalith's island, I was heavily injured. Mobius 1 rescued me himself and brought me to a hospital. We've been friends ever since."

"I respected his piloting ability far too much to let him die that way," explained Mobius 1. "It's a choice I would gladly make again, without a second's thought." Just then, there came a voice on the PA:

"Wardog Squadron, report to the briefing room immediately."

"That's us," said Blaze. "Come on, Kei. Friends, make yourselves at home." With that, Blaze and Nagase made their way to the briefing room.

* * *

**Chapter 10: Blind Spot**

The Base Commander said nothing; he simply let the briefing do the talking.

**The Yuktobanian force that defended the Bastok Peninsula  
is staging a large-scale withdrawal from the area.**

**After analyzing the situation, we have determined  
****that they are pulling back the force to regroup  
their defense network and strengthen their  
capital defenses.**

**Yuktobania's southern armies suffered heavy damage  
during our landing operation, and their defensive  
warpower has weakened considerably.**

**Their withdrawal is currently proceeding under  
the curtain of a set of electronic jamming signals.**

**The enemy's air force consists primarily of transport planes.**

**Pursue these planes, destroy them, and halt their retreat.**

* * *

Within a few hours, Wardog was flying over the Dresdene area looking for the retreating cargo planes when:

"Hey, hey, Kid," called out Chopper. "Did you take a listen to that song?"

"Which one?" asked Blaze. "Oh, _Face Of The Coin._ I did, now you mention it."

"Yeah," continued Chopper, "it's a great tune, huh?"

"Would you expect anything less from Heaven And Hell?" (4) asked Blaze.

"Point: Kid," conceded Chopper. At that point, the enemy force came into sight.

"Wardog, engage!" ordered Thunderhead through their helmets.

"Engaging!" chorused the pilots.

As they were about to bag their first kill of the day, the radar suddenly filled with about twenty more blips.

"Unbelievable!" cried Nagase.

"We gotta bag ALL these planes?" said a shellshocked Chopper.

"No," answered Blaze. "Remember what the briefing said: There are jammer aircraft in this area. We have to find and take them out first. Edge, come high with me and we'll search for the jammer aircraft. Archer, Chopper, you wait for our signal."

"Roger," answered Grimm. With that, the Raptor and Terminator flew high, searching for any jammer craft. Before long, they came upon an E-767 flying at about 20,000 feet. Wasting no time, Blaze and Nagase opened fire, and within ten seconds, the craft was replaced by a bright vermilion ball.

"The radar blips disappeared!" reported Chopper. "Several of them at once!"

"Do we have permission to fire, Captain?" asked Grimm.

"Patience, Archer," reminded Blaze. "Let us finish off all the jammers and then you may fire."

"Roger, Captain," conceded Grimm. Then they heard on a widecast:

"Damn it! Our cover's blown!"

"You're damned right your cover's blown!" taunted Chopper.

"All jammer aircraft destroyed," reported Blaze. "Fire at will!"

"Roger that, Kid," answered Chopper. Then, to his target:

"Eat magnesium!" Next came an explosion.

"Chopper," asked Blaze, curious, "where did you get the sabot rounds?"

"They came standard with my plane," answered Chopper.

"I'll look into that," noted Blaze. By now, half the transport planes had been destroyed. Now a new voice came in through the helmet speakers:

"We wish to work hand in hand, harmoniously, with the citizens of Yuktobania for this operation. I've instructed our soldiers to follow this wish to the letter." Blaze now recognized the voice as belonging to General Robert Howell of the Osean Army.

"Therefore," continued Howell, "I ask you, citizens of Yuktobania: Do not fear us, but rather join us in..."

"Hey," cut in Chopper, "you think it's gonna be that easy?"

"Hell, no," answered Blaze.

"Me neither," agreed Chopper, destroying the last transport plane. But as Blaze moved to take down the fighter escorts:

"ECCM! Restore communication link!" yelled Thunderhead.

For about another minute, all Blaze could hear was bits and pieces of the other pilots' transmissions, but then something that chilled him to the very marrow...

"This is 8492nd leader Ashley Bernitz. All 8492nd units, proceed as planned."

_What the hell?_ thought Blaze. And then, once the jamming cleared:

"The Osean planes are firing on a school packed with civilians! They're at the engineering college!"

_No, we're not,_ thought a scared and confused Blaze.

"Whoever's violating orders, cease fire immediately!" ordered Thunderhead.

_I'll shoot them out of the sky myself!_ thought Blaze.

"Attention, units operationg in sector Charlie Omega!" yelled Thunderhead. "Attacks on civilians are FORBIDDEN!"

"What the-?" stuttered Grimm. "That's right near us!"

"Hell," moaned Chopper, "that's where WE'RE supposed to be operating. You see those idiots anywhere, Kid?"

"I'm no joy," answered Blaze.

"I don't see a thing," added Grimm, "and my radar's clean, too."

Nagase also reported an empty radar as a Yuke ground troop yelled, "Multiple casualties! Get an ambulance over here, fast!"

"Damn the Osean bastards!" cried another ground troop.

"This is Thunderhead," addressed the AWACS. "Wardog, did you engage in an attack on a civilian facility?"

"No, sir," said Blaze emphatically. "We're not career-suicidal."

"Roger," noted Thunderhead. "So you're sure you didn't do this."

"100 percent certain," asserted Nagase.

"Why would we do that?" cried Chopper. "Weren't you watching from up there?"

"Regardless," interrupted Thunderhead, "last plane confirmed shot down. All enemy transports and jammers in the local airspace have been eliminated. Mission complete. Return to base."

* * *

Their debriefing looked like this:

**We have succeeded in halting the Yuktobanian army's  
airborne withdrawal from the Bastok Peninsula.**

**However, a Yuktobanian civilian complex,  
an engineering university, has been attacked.**

**This attack occurred in an area within  
operating range of the Sand Island Squadron.**

**Sand Island air crews will report to Central Command HQ  
in the Osean capital city of Oured immediately.**

"Get to it, Wardog," ordered Perrault. "Your transport is outside."

Outside, Wardog found the four original aces waiting for them.

"Where are you guys going, James?" asked Blaze.

"To Oured," answered Mobius 1, "to serve as your character witnesses. We know you too well to think that it was you guys that attacked that college."

"Thanks, James," said Blaze. "We'll need all the help we can get."

"You got that right," put in Pixy.

"We'll meet you at the HQ building," added Yellow 13. "They can't convict you just on the basis that you were in the area."

"See you there," said Blaze, and with that, he and Wardog got into the transport and left for Oured International Airport, the four aces close behind.

About halfway to Oured, Blaze turned to Nagase and said,

"We'll be all right. It's like Roger said: They can't convict us solely because we were in the area."

"I know," answered Nagase. "Doesn't mean I'm not nervous."

"Be calm," soothed Blaze, putting an arm around Nagase's shoulders. "We have four aces on our side."

"But will their word be enough?" asked Nagase. Just then, they felt the plane touch down and, eventually, come to a stop. Blaze said, as the back ramp began to lower:

"Guess it's time to find out. ..."

* * *

A/N: OK, back again! Sorry for the lack of action in this one, but anyone who's played the mission knows there's not a whole lot to mention, action-wise.

1: Lewis Carroll's famous grinning cat.

2: Members of Red Sox Nation should recognize this disease. (For those who don't recognize it, it's a form of cancer. Boston pitcher Jon Lester was diagnosed with it and beat it.)

3: Very funny line, made famous in the movie "Airplane!"

4: The last band to be fronted by the legendary Ronnie James Dio before his tragic, untimely death in May of 2010.

TBC...

Next: Wardog is faced with two missions at once. I want you, the readers, to decide how to split up the four orignal aces. Blaze and Nagase will do 11a, while Chopper and Grimm will take on 11b. But I want you to decide: Which of the original aces will go with who?


	12. Chapter 11a: Chain Reaction

_General Howell, Supreme Commander of  
__the Osean armies deployed to Yuktobania,  
__successfully stormed the enemy beach  
__and established a forward command center  
__on the spot._

_The General, who claims to have been  
given full operational authority by the President,  
then made the following declaration:_

_"We will march forward and we will not lay down our arms  
until the Yuktobanian capital has fallen." _

On the other side of the ocean, things weren't going so well for Wardog and the aces. They were locked in a fierce court-martial that was obviously not intended to go their way.

_Oured, the Osean capital._

_The winds of war  
have yet to reach here._

_The air still smells of peace._

"...but that wasn't us," Nagase was repeating. "By the time we got there, they had already-"

"That's right," put in Grimm. "We heard them over the radio. They called themselves the 8492nd Squadron-"

"8492, 8492!" yelled an exasperated judge. "Is that all you people have to say? There is no squadron in our military with that number!"

Grimm looked down at the floor, his hands clenched into fists.

"Damn it!" growled an irritated Chopper. "What the hell's going on here?" Right as he threw his arms skyward, an air-raid siren sounded, deafeningly loud, throughout the building.

"Are you shitting me?" snarled the judge. "Grr...We'll continue this later. Get to the baliff!"

Back outside, Wardog ran right to the four aces and told them what was going on.

"...so we've got two missions to take on at once," Blaze was saying. "Both missions are pretty low, even for warfare, but-"

"Say no more, Ed," answered Mobius 1. "Roger and I will go with you and do one mission."

"I'm with you as well, Blaze," put in Nagase without the slightest hesitation.

"Thus, Rainer and I," added Pixy, "will go with the other two pilots and handle the other mission."

"You sure about this, guys?" asked Blaze.

"As sure as death," answered all four aces.

"Ok," said Blaze, "let's go kick some Yuke ass!"

"Better get back to base, then," said Yellow 13, already heading for his plane. "We can't waste any time."

"No need to go that far," answered Grimm. "There's a fully stocked airbase not too far from here."

"Let's go, then," put in Altman, already heading off in the direction Grimm had indicated.

* * *

**Chapter 11a: Chain Reaction**

**Yuktobanian aircraft have suddenly been detected  
on radar southwest of Oured.**

**They are flying in the direction of Apito International Airport,  
located in the area between Oured Bay and the capital.**

**Apito Int'l is a civilian airport. The enemy's intentions are unknown.**

**Passengers and personnel are currently being evacuated,  
but the sudden appearance of the enemy has plunged the airport into chaos.**

**Intercept and engage the enemy landing formation  
and protect Apito Int'l Airport.**

"Dismissed!" snapped the CO of the airbase, and walked out of the room fairly quickly.

* * *

When the pilots arrived at Apito Airport, things weren't looking too good.

"This is the Airport Control Tower!" yelled someone on the ground. "Emergency Alert! All planes, cancel takeoff clearance! All approaching flights, change course immediately!"

"Change our course?" gasped a commercial pilot. "Change it to where?"

"This is Air Ixiom Flight 31," reported another commercial pilot. "A high-speed aircraft just shot by us 600 yards away!"

"They're allied fighters," answered the control tower, "taking off on an emergency mission. All flights, be heads-up for midair collisions!"

"A fighter?" asked Air Ixiom 31 in confusion. "I thought the war was over on the west coast."

"Apparently not," answered Blaze. "Please, just get out of here ASAP. I'll not have any civilian planes shot down on my watch."

"Roger that," answered the other pilot. "Diverting."

"OK, pilots," Blaze said to his comrades, "let's make sure this airport stays in one piece. Mobius 1, you come with me and we'll defend to the north and west."

"Just like old times, eh, Eddie?" asked Mobius 1 with a tangible grin.

"You know it, comrade," replied Blaze with a grin of his own. "Edge, you go with Yellow 13 and defend to the south and east."

"Roger that, Blaze," answered Nagase. "Yellow 13, lead the way."

"Watch and learn, grasshopper," instructed Yellow 13 in a sensei-style voice. With that, the Raptors and Terminators split off and started patrolling their respective areas.

"Hey, Eddie," called Mobius 1, "kill contest?"

"You're on," answered Blaze, as the first of the enemies approached. "Yellow 13, you want in?"

"The more, the merrier," answered Yellow 13. "Count me in."

While Blaze and Yellow 13 had been accepting the challenge, Mobius 1 had gone forward to splash the three planes that had been approaching from the north. As he reached them, however, the three planes exploded, having been hit by XMAAs that had been launched by Blaze.

"You sneaky bastard," chuckled Mobius 1.

"I aim to please," laughed Blaze.

"Rookies," taunted Yellow 13 over the radio. "I've got five already."

"WHAT?" cried Blaze and Mobius 1 in unison. "WE'LL HAVE NO ERUSIAN OUTSCORING US!" (1)

"Catch me if you can," laughed Yellow 13, and returned to his patrol.

All would later agree that Blaze's most spectacular kill of the night was his tenth. Coming headlong at Blaze's Raptor from the northwest was an F/A-18E Super Hornet, barreling down on him. Blaze let loose two missiles at the last second, and the plane exploded. However, what made it so spectacular was the fact that Blaze broke the sound barrier as he flew through the fireball, causing the fire to expand outward and grow to double its normal size. (2)

When all 33 planes were destroyed, it ended up as a three-way tie between the three pilots, who had eleven kills apiece.

"I'll win next time," Blaze promised.

"We'll see about that," noted Yellow 13. At that point, the following cut through their helmets:

"This is Airport Control Tower. Military transport planes parked on the runway, state your squadron number and callsign."

"This is Capital District Air Command. We haven't deployed any allied military transport planes to civilian airports at this time."

"Tanks coming out of transport planes! They're firing! It's the enemy! Enemy forces inside the airport!"

All four pilots looked, and sure enough, there were tanks emerging from transport planes that certainly had not been there three minutes ago.

"Ed, did you hear that just now?" asked Mobius 1.

"Yeah, I heard that," replied a subdued Blaze. "How'd they get past us?"

"Never mind that," advised Yellow 13, "let's just destroy the tanks and transport planes. We can't let them cause any more damage here."

"Then let's not waste any more time," ordered Blaze, all business. "Mobius 1, you take Edge and go destroy the ground forces. Yellow 13, you and I will fly top cover."

"Roger that, Blaze," answered Nagase. "Mobius 1, you heard the man. (3) Let's get low; let's get lethal."

"I gotcha, Big Mama, let's get 'em!" (/3) chimed Mobius 1, and they zoomed low to take care of the ground forces.

Within two minutes, the Yuke ground forces were destroyed, and the airport was saved.

"Enemy forces annihilated," reported CDAC. "Airport control tower, what do you say?"

"Affirmative," replied the control tower. "Enemy defeat confirmed. Give our thanks to your aces up there."

"Roger," answered CDAC. "Operation complete."

Without a word, the four exhausted pilots flew back to Sand Island.

* * *

**The enemy forces that tried to capture Apito Int'l Airport  
have been destroyed.**

**Hopefully, we'll find out how they managed to infiltrate the airport  
after we complete our investigation.**

**Additionally, the effects of the chemical attack on the college town of Bana  
are currently subsiding, thanks to the neutralizing agent that was spread  
by the other half of Wardog Squadron.**

**The group that carried out the chemical attack are all but confirmed  
to be a Yuktobanian special forces commando unit.**

**They were planning to link up with the main force at the airport,  
but they aborted their plan and attempted to slip away after hearing  
that their main force was defeated. The other half of Wardog Squadron  
successfully prevented their escape.**

**The Yuktobanians have defiled our soil.  
Worse, they tried to destroy a civilian airport  
and irradiate a college town.**

**We've got to defeat them, no matter the cost.**

**We'll be sending you all back to the front lines of the Yuktobanian mainland.**

**Wardog pilots, if you all really are innocent...  
then I hope you can prove it out there on the battlefield.**

* * *

"This day just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?" asked Blaze in their dorm later that night.

"You said it," answered Nagase.

"I still can't believe that they would go this far just to retaliate for something we, personally, didn't even do."

"Nor I. But we'll have to wait to be able to look into that. We have to sleep."

"If we can." With that, Blaze went to get the lights, and after doing so, climbed up into his bunk.

"Good night, Kei."

"Good night, Edward."

Neither of them heard the silent "I think I love you" that escaped Nagase's lips just before they both drifted off into Never-Never-Land. (4)

* * *

A/N: OK, if this felt short, then I'm sorry. But, again, there wasn't a whole lot I could do with this mission. The next one should be a lot better, though.

1: A twist on a line from Gimli, son of Gloin, from the second live-action _The Lord Of The Rings_ film, released in 2002.

2: If that's not what really happens when one breaks the sound barrier as they go through a fireball, please let me know.

3: Another set of twisted lines, this time, from _Independence Day_.

4: Name used by Metallica in their song "Enter Sandman" to represent the world of dreams.

TBC...

NEXT: Reprisal


	13. Chapter 11b: Reprisal

Whilst Blaze and Nagase were off at Apito Airport fighting the good fight, Chopper and Grimm were discussing the mission in Dresdene with Pixy and Altman at the airbase in Oured.

"So you said they called themselves the 8492nd Tactical Fighter Squadron?" Pixy was asking.

"That's correct, Larry," answered Chopper. "We also ran into them when the President of Osea made his emergency landing at Akerson Hill."

"8492…" mused Altman quietly. "That sounds familiar, but I can't place it."

"I'd never heard of them before that day," confessed Grimm.

"Sounds like a squadron I used to fly with," thought Altman out loud. "Have you seen the way they fly?"

"Never in combat," answered Chopper. "But if what we heard in Dresdene is any indication, they fly very aggressively and violently." Just then, there came a voice on the PA:

"Remaining Wardog pilots and their two remaining guests, report to the briefing room immediately."

**Chapter 11b: Reprisal**

The Base Commander was silent throughout the briefing.

**A group believed to be a Yuktobanian commando force  
has carried out a terrorist attack with chemical weapons.**

**The site of the attack is the college town of Bana,  
located to the south of Oured.**

**Plumes of nerve gas are currently billowing out  
from several locations around the city.**

**We must neutralize the gas from the air as quickly as possible.**

**Capital District Air Command (CDAC) will provide specialized aircraft  
equipped to deploy canisters containing a neutralizing agent.**

**Drop the neutralizing agent from the air over the smoke from the gas plumes.**

**Keep the gas from spreading further around the city.**

"Get to it!" snapped the Base Commander, already halfway out the door.

Not long after that, four MIR-2000D's approached the Bana area, ready for action.

"OK," came the voice of the mission coordinator. "Once you've reached the airspace over the city, drop the neutralizer bombs. Make good use of them."

"I miss my Wyvern," griped Chopper.

"And I miss Morgan," soothed Pixy. "But do you see that stopping us?"

"Morgan?" asked Grimm.

"A prototype plane from back when I was the…shall we say…'secret weapon'…for A World With No Boundaries," answered Pixy with just the tiniest hint of regret in his voice. "Officially designated as the ADFX-02, and only three of them were ever produced and sent out into combat. Helluva plane. One of them was shot down by Cipher over the Avalon Dam with me in the pilot's seat, and another eventually was stolen by a spy within the organization. Let's split off to take care of this. Grimm, you come with me and we'll handle the east side of the city, across the river. Chopper, you and Cormorant (1) handle the west, mainland side."

"Roger that, Pixy. I'm guessing you still fly the third one to this day?" asked Chopper.

"You'd be right," replied Pixy. "Gotta keep my reflexes sharp somehow now that Cipher's dead."

"You mean you still flew with him even after all the bad blood between the two of you?" cried Grimm in wonder, dropping a bomb on another cloud of faint tan gas.

"We were only circumstantial enemies," corrected Pixy. "Next time we met up was on a battlefield just after I had been interviewed by this guy…Brett Thompson, (2) I think his name was. He was helping out the ground forces I was commanding, and I recognized his plane by the sound the engines made as they flew overhead. I said, 'Yo, Buddy. Still alive, I see.' He replied with, 'Yeah, no thanks to your little organization, Larry.' But as it turned out, he'd gotten past that, and we slowly became buddies again."

"Damned if that's not an insane way to be reunited with an old frenemy," quipped Chopper.

"First Lieutenant Davenport," came the coordinator's voice, "is that you? We've heard from the front lines that you like to shoot your mouth off on the radio."

"Uh," stuttered Chopper, "Davenport is too busy carrying out his mission to answer you at this time, Sir."

"Charlie 11," came the voice of an officer on the ground, "isn't today your daughter's birthday?"

"Well, I couldn't just sit and do nothing, Baker 7!" replied Charlie 11 through gritted teeth. "Let's take care of this so I can go home, OK?"

"Roger that," put in another patrol car. "Don't stay in that area for more than three minutes!"

"You won't even have to worry about it over here," answered Pixy. "It looks like the east side of the city is clear of gas. Can someone confirm that?"

"This is Charlie 11," reported said officer. "What he says is true: the gas over the east bank has subsided! Our thanks go out to the Air Force."

"This is Cormorant," put in Altman. "Requesting confirmation that the west bank is clear of gas."

"This is Baker 7," reported that officer. "That's affirmative: The west bank's free of gas, too. Way to go, pilots."

"City Police HQ," put in a new voice, "10-4. All districts clear. City is completely clear of gas. We really appreciate the Air Force for doing this."

"I hope so," shot Chopper. "I'm getting pretty sick of being looked down on like something the Base Commander tracked on the tile floor." Then, a brand-new voice came on:

"Mission failed. The gas has been completely neutralized."

"Kedar team to Sudayev team," informed yet another new voice. "We're sending in a helicopter for support."

"Sorry you have to do this," apologized the man from Sudayev team.

"Uh, hold it, stand by…" warned the police HQ, "The terrorists are escaping with the chemical weapons in a truck. All units, close on that area."

"10-4," encouraged Baker 7.

"Suspect proceeding south on Route 22," informed the dispatcher.

"Hey, let's go watch," suggested Chopper. Without even a word, the four planes decreased speed and dropped altitude, watching with rapt interest as a car chase began.

* * *

Down on the ground, Bana Police Lieutenant Alex Davis, callsign Charlie 11, was zipping along towards Route 22, anxious to get these damned suspects in custody so he could get back home in time to be with his daughter, Harriet, as she celebrated her ninth birthday. Everyone in their section of neighborhood was at his house, meaning his wife of fourteen years, Marlene, would be having a hell of a job keeping things in order in their spacious backyard at 212 Harling Drive.

"This is Baker 7," came the voice of his close friend and colleague, Ralph Madsen, over the CB. "Now on Route 22."

Davis, too, was coming close to reaching Route 22, and he had seen what he recognized as Madsen's police cruiser. He took the next left, and within thirty seconds, he had caught up to Madsen.

"This is Charlie 11," he reported. "On Route 22 as well."

"10-4," responded the voice of their dispatcher, Jack Lemmings, who then turned his attention to the pilots above them. "Uh, sorry to trouble you, but our patrolmen aren't exactly trained to fight in wars. Do you think you can help them out from the air?"

"This is Capital District Air Command," came a crisp voice on the radio. "Is that really necessary?"

"Well," answered Lemmings haltingly, "if you could dispatch some MP's to the scene, that'd be fine, too…" Right then, Davis spotted their target: a tan van speeding along Route 22 at over 110mph, swerving almost like it was out of control.

_Thank God these cars are built for high-speed pursuit,_ thought Davis with a sigh as he mentally prepared himself to take down the terrorists.

"This is Baker 7," called Madsen. "We've spotted the truck." Even as he said this, Davis saw the truck trying to take a sharp left too fast. Incredibly, the truck did not roll; rather, it went passenger-side first headlong into a building…and barely stopped. It simply corrected itself and got back up to getaway speed like nothing had happened.

Davis and Madsen both slammed on their brakes hard enough that, were these cars even ten years older, they would have put their feet completely through the floor and wrecked the cars' frames. However, the floors held, and the cruisers slowed down impossibly fast. Even so, they both missed going into the building by about six feet as they jammed their steering wheels hard to the left. As they straightened out and continued the pursuit, that crisp voice came back on the radio.

"The airport is under attack from enemy commandos," it informed.

"You're kidding!" breathed Lemmings, and Davis would later swear on his badge that he heard Lemmings' jaw hit the floor.

"Yeah, we've got our hands full here, too," confessed the crisp voice. "Wardog Squadron, you are ordered to assist the local authorities."

"We appreciate your help," thanked Lemmings. But just as Davis and Madsen were breathing a collective sigh of relief, a loud explosion and a bright vermilion flash caused both of them to slam on the brakes again. When things cleared up, the truck was nowhere in sight.

"Charlie 11 here," said Davis into his personal CB. "We found the truck, but they launched a grenade at us. No injuries; just hit a mailbox on the curb. They got away in the confusion."

"Roger," acknowledged Lemmings. "Pilots, see if you can find the terrorists' truck from up here. Don't let them escape."

"Roger that," came a smartass-type voice in response. "We'll take care of it."

"Hold on," warned Lemmings sternly, "I don't need you pilots to fire on them or anything."

"Not even just a little?" asked the smartass, surprised.

"No!" shot the crisp voice, as if putting its foot down.

"C'mon, guys, really…" added Lemmings.

"Did you hear that, Cormorant?" relayed the smartass to one of the other pilots. "They say we can't shoot 'em!"

"Are you really surprised?" came a mellow, yet world-weary voice in reply. "Even our nose guns would be overkill to that truck. Plus, we might hit those chemical weapons and set them off."

"Oh," mused the smartass. "That would suck."

"You got that right," said a voice that gave the impression of an aged warrior.

Meanwhile, Davis and Madsen had split up in order to cover more ground in the search. Madsen, of course, found it within five minutes while Davis had gone in the opposite direction.

"We gotta lighten the load!" they heard over the radio.

"Baker 7, I'm guessing you found the suspects?" called out Davis.

"Affirmative, Charlie 11," answered Madsen, at which point Davis slammed on the brakes and slipped into an underground parking area. "But I don't see your car on the navigator display. What's going on?"

"I'm in the parking garage under Dalem Street," answered Davis, dodging unaware drivers that were just about to pull out of their spaces, and slaloming between parked cars and support pillars. "I think I can cut them off!"

"Geez, man," cried Madsen, "calm down! Do you realize where you're driving?" Of course, Davis knew perfectly well how many accidents happened down here each month, having been involved in a couple himself. Thankfully, most of what occurred down here was only fender-benders; nothing really serious despite the amazingly high potential for something really bad. As such, Davis had a few close calls trying to get to the other side of the garage, but he made it through scot-free. However, it was not in time, as he saw the truck disappear around a distant corner while pulling out of the garage. So, he made a chicane turn and pulled into a nearby alleyway with all speed, knowing that he would come out in a small park that would, hopefully, allow him to still cordon off the suspects' escape route.

Obviously, this did not go unnoticed.

"Charlie 11," yelled Madsen, "you're off the main road! Where are you going?"

"This is Charlie 11," he answered. "I'm taking a shortcut through Hastarl Park!"

"What?" spluttered Madsen, as Davis began roaring through the park, sending pedestrians and bright green grass flying every which way. "Hey, isn't that against the law?"

Despite himself and the situation, Davis had to laugh. But his laughter was cut short as his hopes were realized: As he neared the opposite end of Hastarl Park, the suspects' truck came into view, with what looked like the occasional gunfire flash coming out of the passenger side window.

"I found the truck!" he reported triumphantly. Triumph, however, quickly (and I mean quicker than a hiccup) (3) turned into frustration as the gunshots immediately started coming his way. "Damn it, they're shooting at us!"

"Charlie 11," advised Madsen, "fall back! Wait for backup!" Right then, the rear doors of the truck opened to reveal-was that a microwave? Yes, it was, and it was flying directly at Davis' windshield. He had to almost risk a spinout to avoid being hit, but he managed to keep his cruiser under control.

"Don't worry, Baker 7," replied a defiant and determined Davis, grabbing the sidearm Beretta M92F that he kept on his dashboard while on duty. Thumbing the safety off, he rolled down his window, moved the gun outside, and took aim as best he could. "I'll pump enough lead into the truck to stop 'em!" And with that, he opened fire. Bullets ricocheted every which way when they made contact with the truck, which was soon pockmarked with impact points.

"Kedar team," came the Sudayev terrorist on a widecast, "can we rendezvous at Apito International Airport?"

"Negative," replied the Kedar leader. "The airport is no longer under our control. We're in the helicopter, on our way to grab you now so we can regroup; plan our next move. Hold on."

"Did you hear that, First Lieutenant Chopper?" asked a voice that sounded really young. "Sounds like Captains Randolph and Nagase successfully saved the airport!"

"Sounds that way," answered the smartass from earlier. "But you gotta figure Mobius 1 and Yellow 13 did a fair amount, as well."

It was right about now that Davis realized that his Beretta wasn't doing much except denting the frame on the suspects' truck. So he thumbed the safety back on and returned it to its dashboard holster.

"Sudayev team to Kedar team," reported the terrorists as the Marvin Bridge came into view. "The enemy planes are fighters. Be careful."

"Roger, Sudayev team," acknowledged the helicopter pilot. "We'll approach from low altitude."

"The helicopter's going to cross over us near Marvin Bridge," the terrorist informed his fellows.

"Damn it," growled another patrolman, "I can't get near the truck! I'm at Marvin Bridge! All units in pursuit, proceed at once to Marvin Bridge! Seal off all surrounding areas! Hurry!"

* * *

Wardog and the two aces had watched this whole spectacle unfold in front of them up to this point, but now CDAC was coming in through their helmets:

"This is CDAC. The enemy forces that attacked the airport have sent a helicopter in your direction. Be careful."

"I have a visual," affirmed Pixy. "Wardog, let's get 'em!"

"Right behind you," chorused the other three pilots.

"This is Baker 7," chimed in one of the ground officers. "We're surrounding the area, but…that's a military helicopter. We don't have anything that can go up against it."

"Fighters, shoot down the helicopter for us," requested the police dispatcher.

"That's what I've been waiting for," answered Chopper, psyched. "Let's go!" The four pilots split into two groups, and each group ended up destroying seven helicopters before the mission was finally over.

"This is Cormorant," reported Altman. "All targets confirmed destroyed."

"This is Baker 7," came the voice from the ground. "The enemy truck has surrendered."

"Hah," yelled Charlie 11, "serves you right! How's it feel now, huh?"

"Wardog," instructed CDAC, "mission complete. Return to base immediately."

"Roger that," chorused the pilots. "Returning to base."

* * *

Back on the ground, Alex Davis was putting the terrorists into a paddywagon with a felling of immense relief, though he was still on something of an adrenaline rush. As the paddywagon drove away with its load of suspects, his personal radio crackled.

"Charlie 11," came the voice of Ralph Madsen through the speaker, "we need a Code 3 response to find a dad missing from his daughter's birthday party…"

Thanks to the adrenaline, it took Davis a minute to understand what Madsen meant. But once he finally got it…

"10-4! Proceeding to the scene immediately!"

* * *

Meanwhile, back in Oured…

**Thanks to your efforts in spreading the neutralizing agent,  
we managed to contain the damage from the nerve gas attack.**

**Still, there have been at least 300 confirmed casualties reported so far.**

**We have a related report on the force that tried to capture Apito Int'l Airport  
at the exact moment the nerve gas attack began.**

**The force made it into the facility, occupying it for a short period, but a lack of follow-on support  
enabled the other half of Wardog Squadron to destroy them fairly quickly.**

**The Yuktobanian army is threatening the security of our very capital.**

**We've got to defeat them, at all costs.**

**We'll be sending you all back to the front lines of the Yuktobanian mainland.**

**Wardog pilots, if you all really are innocent…  
then I hope you can prove it out there on the battlefield.**

"Why does rarely anything seem to go our way?" asked Chopper dramatically in the crew room later on. He and Grimm had found Blaze and Nagase and were now swapping the day's info with them.

"You got me," answered Blaze.

"I'm at a loss," confessed Nagase.

"As am I," concurred Grimm.

"I'll tell you what I do know," put in Chopper. "We gotta think up names for our little hybrid squadrons here."

"I'm with you on that," agreed Blaze. "However, my mind's drawing a blank right now."

"I got nothing," added Nagase.

"Maybe a good sleep will fix that?" suggested Grimm.

"There's an idea," agreed Chopper. "I'll see you guys tomorrow." With that, they all went their separate ways to their sleeping quarters.

* * *

A/N: If you want the real end to this chapter, look in the previous one.

A/N v2.0: If you guys have any ideas for names to give the hybrid squadrons and the squadron consisting of the four older aces, feel free to throw them at me.

1: This is Altman's real callsign.

2: This is supposed to be the guy who does the interviews for AC0. Whether or not that's his official name, however, I don't know. Found it in another story I read on here; can't remember which one it was or who wrote it, though.

3: Jim "J.R" Ross, the Hall Of Fame ringside announcer for WWE events, used to say this a lot.

TBC...

NEXT: Powder Keg


	14. Chapter 12a: Powder Keg

It was the day after the court-martial in Oured, and Blaze was just waking up in his crew room at Sand Island Naval Base. As he climbed out of his bunk, he took a look around. Eventually, he saw a piece of paper lying on the bureau that appeared to have words on it. He picked it up and found:

_Edward, the seven of us are in the crew room.  
When you get dressed, join us.  
We have things to discuss._

_-Kei_

About ten minutes later, Blaze walked into the crew room to find the rest of Wardog Squadron sitting with the four Aces, chatting animatedly about…something.

"Ah, there's the man himself," pointed out Mobius 1. "Come on, man, have a seat." Blaze obliged.

"So what are you guys discussing?" asked Blaze.

"We're trying to think up squadron names in case these guys ever fly with us again," answered Chopper.

"We've already thought up a name for our squadron," put in Yellow 13, indicating himself and the other three Aces.

"I still say Morsus was a better choice," chimed Pixy.

"I don't know about that, Larry," cautioned Altman. "Pain Squadron? That just doesn't sound right."

"In any case, we have decided to call ourselves Exemplar Squadron," informed Mobius 1.

"I like it," approved Blaze. "Good twist on your status as four of the original Aces."

"At present, we're trying to think up names for when two pilots from each squadron fly together," put in Grimm.

"I have an idea for if all eight of us fly together," chimed Nagase.

"Let's hear it," chorused the other seven pilots.

"How about 'The Black Knights'?" ventured Nagase.

"I quite like that name," answered Blaze. "Good, strong title."

"Agreed," concurred Mobius 1. "What do you guys think?" Thumbs flashed up all around.

"OK," said Blaze with a determined sigh, "back to the hybrid squadrons. Don't know why, but for some reason, 'Pegasus' just bounds to the front of my mind, with 'Draco' right behind it."

"I can't think of anything better," admitted Yellow 13. The other pilots agreed.

"OK, let's go register our names," instructed Blaze, already getting up from his seat.

Ten minutes later, it was all done. The four squadrons were registered and ready for service at any time. The eight pilots were back in the crew room, discussing their missions from the previous day when:

"Pegasus Squadron pilots, report to briefing room A," a voice barked over the crackling PA. "Draco pilots, to briefing room B. Repeat, Pegasus to briefing room A, Draco to briefing room B. Immediately."

"OK, let's go," ordered Blaze. "Chopper, Grimm, go with Mobius 1 and Yellow 13 to room A. The rest of us will go to briefing room B."

"Roger that, Kid," acknowledged Chopper. "See you guys if and when you get back."

"No 'if' involved, Chopper," reprimanded Blaze. "But yes, we'll see you later on today."

**Chapter 12a: Powder Keg**

"I will now brief the details of your mission orders," snapped the Base Commander shortly. "That's all I have to say to you right now, people." He practically spat the last word, then went on:

"If you all really ARE innocent, then I suggest you prove it out there on the battlefield." He then stalked out of the room, and the briefing began.

**We have discovered the position of a secret facility in Yuktobania  
used to store ammunition.**

**According to our information, the base is located  
deep in the jungles north of Lake Dama.**

**The facility is massive and contains enough ammunition to supply  
a Yuktobanian ground division for a week of combat operations.**

**Destroy this stockpile and cut off their front-line ammunition supply.**

**Note that we've been getting a lot of attacks from soldiers  
hiding in the dense jungles with shoulder-mounted SAMs.**

**They are very hard to detect from the air, so stay heads-up for  
sudden attacks from these missiles when flying at low altitude.**

"Dismissed!" snapped the BC's voice from out in the hall, and the four pilots left for the hangar.

Not too long after that, a tiger-striped Wyvern, a light-blue Raptor, a Yellow Terminator, and an obsidian Black Widow II with red highlights on the vertical stabilizer tips were flying over a lush, mountainous jungle region, keeping an eye out for their target.

"Geez," griped Chopper in the Wyvern, "now they got us turning right back into another battle. And this scenery definitely clashes with my Rock 'n' Roll."

"I'm just glad they're not ordering us to attack a city in retaliation for _their_ retaliation," reminded Grimm.

"You're a real optimist," shot Chopper, "you know that? Sheesh!"

"This is Thunderhead," snapped a very familiar voice. "Cut the chatter."

"Oh," whined Chopper, "I just wish I could fly _somewhere_ where I didn't have to listen to that voice."

"You did until yesterday," noted Grimm.

"You'll be arriving at your target area shortly," informed Thunderhead.

"Well," admitted Chopper, "I don't wanna listen to that interrogation committee at the capital, either!"

"Then let's hurry up and get this over with," put in Mobius 1, squadron leader for this mission. "Pair off and split off. Yellow 13, come with me."

"Copy that," replied Yellow 13. "Are we heading east or west?"

"We're going east," answered Mobius 1. "Chopper, Grimm, you guys head west. Destroy every enemy unit and building in sight. Good luck." With that, the four split off to take care of business.

"The actual armory is located in an underground shelter," relayed Thunderhead. "Fire missiles into the tunnel and destroy it from the inside."

Mobius 1 and Yellow 13 were now just coming up on a bend in the river, and they saw what looked like an aircraft hangar near the water. Yellow 13 took it out with two well-placed missiles.

"Mechanical parts discovered in destroyed enemy facility," reported Thunderhead. "We'll have the ground forces retrieve them later."

Meanwhile, Chopper and Grimm had come upon the first tunnel that led to the armory.

"Remember, Captain," reminded Grimm, "only firing from straight on will work. Otherwise, the missile won't make it all the way down the tunnel."

"I know," replied Chopper. "Cover me while I take the shot." He lined himself up so that the tunnel opening was directly in front of him. As he approached, he descended to an altitude that would give him the best chance of hitting the main ammo dump. But just as he was leveling off, a missile came screaming up at him from out of nowhere. He was only just barely able to evade it.

"Whoa!" cried Chopper as he made the dodge. "What the hell was that?"

"Looked like a shoulder-mounted SAM!" reported Grimm. "Enemy soldiers in the jungle! And for whatever reason, they aren't showing up on my radar!"

"This is Thunderhead," put in Thunderhead. "Our search radar is clean. We can't see the launchers!"

"Man," snarled Chopper, "you're USELESS!"

"I've got you covered, Chopper!" called out Grimm, already lined up and primed to fire.

"Don't tell me about it!" cried Chopper. "Just fire!"

But Grimm had already let a missile loose and it had disappeared into the tunnel.

"Fox Two!" he called out. Next second, there was an enormous explosion almost directly in front of them.

"This is Mobius 1," said pilot chimed in. "I heard that explosion from over here, and we're on the other side of the EZ."

"Who got a hit on a tunnel?" came the voice of Yellow 13.

"That was me, Captain," answered Grimm.

"We'll be there in a few minutes," reported Yellow 13. "James, let's move."

"Hang on to your pockets," agreed Mobius 1, "'cause here come the rockets!"

Meanwhile, Chopper and Grimm were coming up on the next tunnel.

"Take this one, Chopper!" called Grimm. "I'll cover you!"

"Roger!" answered Chopper. Lining himself up, he unleashed a missile that found its mark perfectly.

"Missile hit!" cried a Yuke ground troop on a widecast. "Tunnel 3 is in flames!"

"Room temperature rising! " yelled another one. "The ammo's gonna start going off by itself!"

"Get outta there!" screamed a third one. "You're gonna get fried!"

"The armories in this area have been destroyed," reported Thunderhead. As the pilots watched, they saw an explosion to rival a volcanic eruption in dead center of the EZ.

"Wow," marveled Chopper, "I'll bet that left a crater as big as the ones on the moon."

About five minutes afterward, and another massive explosion later, Chopper mused, "Hey, I didn't think it would blow up like that. Must be pretty bad in there. You thinking the same thing?"

"I am," answered Yellow 13.

Another ten minutes, and it was all over.

"All armories destroyed," confirmed Thunderhead. "Mission complete. Return to base."

"Well, it's over," said Chopper listlessly.

"Mission complete," added Grimm. "Let's go home."

"Grimm…" began Chopper.

"Yes, sir?" responded Grimm.

"You gotta say that with a little more feeling. At least we get to go home again today, right?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"So cheer up a little."

"You too, Captain."

"Yeah, I know…"

Back at Sand Island:

**The targeted ammunition stockpile facility was destroyed.**

**With this operation, we have cut off one of the lifelines  
of the Yuktobanian army.**

**Their ability to conduct operations will be reduced  
across the entire nation.**

"Good work today, Pegasus," said Mobius 1. "Let's go get some rest. We've all earned it."

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the short chap, but I was still a quarter stoned when I wrote out the second half of this. Besides, the other mission in this pair is much more entertaining and much easier to novelize.

Thanks to Sieben Nightwing and mercenaryflyer for suggesting squadron names and volunteering to help a struggling author out.

Special thanks to Patriot-112 for suggesting two of the four names that were used.

Very special thanks to Zan67 for a) suggesting the names for the Aces' squadron and the squadron of all eight pilots, and b) agreeing to be my beta reader for my next two AC stories (or 'sorties', if you will).

TBC…

NEXT: Four Horsemen


	15. Chapter 12b: Four Horsemen

**Chapter 12b: (The) Four Horsemen**

"I will now brief the details of your mission orders," snapped Orson Perrault as Blaze, Nagase, Pixy, and Altman filed into the briefing room across from the other four pilots. "That's all I have to say to you right now, people."

Turning to stride briskly out of the room, he added, "If you all really are innocent, then I suggest you prove it out there on the battlefield." The door slammed closed with authority upon his exit from the room.

**We have confirmed the existence of a Yuktobanian  
munitions factory in the arid region of Sonza.**

**According to our information,  
they have already produced a new shipment of arms  
that are about to be airlifted to the front  
by a squadron of enemy transport aircraft.**

**Carry out an attack on the facility,  
and keep these transports from making their delivery.**

**Unfortunately, this factory is well-protected  
by a solid radar network.**

**The network consists of a group of interlinked radar sites.**

**If even one radar site goes offline, the system is designed  
to immediately report the problem to the factory.**

**However, according to our analysts,  
if all four radar sites can be destroyed simultaneously,  
then we'll be able to delay the warning of the attack.**

**Thanks to jamming from our electronic warfare planes,  
we've just managed to open up an attack corridor  
to the radar sites.**

**Your squadron will split up and fly four routes.**

**Infiltrate the area, synchronize your attacks,  
and destroy all four radar sites at the same time.**

After a harsh "Dismissed!" from out in the hall, Draco squadron headed to the hangar.

* * *

Several hours later, Draco was flying above the dry-as-a-bone Sonza Desert, on Yuktobania's eastern peninsula. A blue Raptor, a gray F-15C Eagle with the right wing painted red, and two Terminators (one painted yellow-jacket yellow, and the other painted in the legendary Yellow Squadron's two-tone yellow/gray camo style) were flying in formation towards the northwest.

"Welcome back, Aces," Blaze was saying. "Good to see you in the air with us again."

"Thanks much, Blaze," answered Pixy. "I just wish Cipher was still here."

"Amen to that," chimed Altman.

"You two are enough for me," reasoned Nagase, "at least, in terms of history."

"This is Thunderhead," cut in the AWACS. "Cut the chatter."

"Does that mean we can cut off our comm line to Thunderhead?" laughed Pixy.

"Sadly, no," reminded Blaze. "He's our HUDs' only lifeline to real-time mission data."

"Well, in that case…" mused Pixy.

"I repeat," insisted Thunderhead, "cut the chatter. Synchronize your watches before arrival. Five seconds to 1130 hours." All four HUDs showed a five-second countdown: 5…4…3…2…1…

"Mark!" called Thunderhead once the countdown ended. At that, the four pilots began to slowly split off, each in pursuit of a different radar dish.

"I'll begin the countdown for attack in just a moment," informed Nagase. "We have to destroy the radar right when the counter reaches zero. Watch your timing."

"Blaze, we blow up the dishes simultaneously on 3-2-1-zero, right?" asked Altman, just to make sure.

"Correct, Cormorant," confirmed Blaze.

"Roger," answered Altman. "Just checking."

"30 seconds to countdown…" warned Nagase. "And…mark!"

"Blaze, just to be 100 percent certain," chimed Pixy. "We need to match up the timing of the destruction, not our firing, right?"

"That is correct," answered Blaze, mildly annoyed.

"Copy," replied Pixy. "I'm good now." At that, the first radar dish came into Blaze's sight.

"10 seconds," called Nagase, as Blaze entered firing range.

"5…4…3…2…1…Now!" she finished, and on "Now!", the four dishes exploded at the same time.

"Synchronized attack was successful," reported Blaze. "See? Nothing to it."

"Got that right," agreed Pixy. "Let's go for the next one!"

The process repeated twice more without incident. But just as they approached the final dish and started the countdown…

"Wait!" cried Pixy. "Halt the countdown; I lost radar!"

"OK," acquiesced Nagase. "Resetting countdown."

"Wait, never mind," reported Pixy. "I got it working again. All it needed was a good kick!"

"Restart countdown," updated Nagase, "and…mark!"

The last radar dishes then fell as planned.

"Radar network penetrated," informed Thunderhead. "Proceed to attack the weapons plant." With that, Draco came back to formation and increased speed, the munitions factory squarely in sight.

"Draco squadron," ordered Blaze, "come in from each compass direction and blow up everything you see."

"Roger," chorused the pilots. Altman was quick to destroy a spare hangar on his way to the northern attack position.

"Mechanical parts discovered in destroyed enemy facility," reported Thunderhead. "We'll have the ground forces retrieve them later."

The pilots got into position and closed in for the kill.

Meanwhile, on the ground, the Yuke troops were going about their business when the air-raid siren sounded. They looked up and saw four planes coming at them from each direction. Chaos erupted as everyone tried to scramble for their planes.

"Get the transports airborne!" yelled a CO over the PA. "Hurry!" But by the time the sentence finished, bullets, missiles, and bombs had begun to rain down upon the tarmac. It wasn't long before the entire base went up in a titanic ball of hellfire.

"All targets confirmed destroyed," updated Thunderhead in Draco squadron's helmets. "Picture clear, mission complete. Return to base."

"Well, it's over," mused Altman.

"Mission complete," echoed Nagase, sounding subdued. "Let's go home."

"Nagase…" uttered Blaze.

"Hmm?" acknowledged Nagase.

"You gotta say that with a little more feeling," cautioned Blaze.

"At least we get to go home again today, right?" put in Pixy.

"Right," concurred Nagase.

"So," urged Blaze, "cheer up a little."

"You, too, Blaze," retorted Nagase with a small, unseen smile.

"Yeah," chuckled Blaze, "I know."

**The Yuktobanian munitions factory was destroyed,  
and the weapons inside the transport planes were eliminated.**

**With this operation, we have succeeded in dealing a severe blow  
to the enemy's weapons production effort.**

**Yuktobania's weapons development capablility  
will now be lagging considerably behind Osea.**

* * *

Later, back on Sand Island, Blaze and Nagase were discussing their mission in their dorm when they heard a knock on the door.

"I'll get it," said Blaze. With that, he walked to the door and opened it. There stood Pixy with a small smile on his face.

"What's up, Pixy?" he asked.

"Got a couple things I want to show you," replied Pixy. "Ms. Nagase is welcome to come, as well."

"Sure," called Nagase from the back of the room. "We got nothing better to do."

Pixy eventually led them to the hangar, where a pile of parts stood in the middle of a plane's area.

"Are those what we found when Altman destroyed that hangar today?" asked Blaze.

"It is as you have said," confirmed Pixy. "Pegasus found more at the Lake Dama base they destroyed while we were out."

"They look like parts to a plane," noted Nagase.

"That's exactly what they are," affirmed Pixy. "Parts to a plane known simply as the ADF-01 Falken. It is the equal of my ADFX-02 Morgan in just about every way."

"How do you know this?" asked Blaze, intrigued.

"It is the plane Cipher used to shoot me down in our battle over the Avalon Dam—"

"when you were the secret weapon for A World With No Boundaries," finished Nagase.

"Yes," confirmed Pixy. "Last I heard, only one had ever been made, and it's owned by Cipher—or was. After he died, or so I heard, it was dismantled for scrap. But it seems they tried to build another one."

"Sure looks that way," noted Blaze. "Here's hoping we can get it built before they can."

"You'll need it if you expect to keep up with Morgan," quipped Pixy, "which reminds me, I also want to show you Morgan. Follow me."

They did, eventually coming upon a plane that looked more like a space shuttle than anything, bearing the same paint job as the Eagle that they had seen earlier.

"I take it that's Morgan?" guessed Blaze.

"Smart man," answered Pixy. "Feel free to spend as long as you like looking her over. There's a lot to see in my baby." Winking, he walked off.

* * *

30 minutes later, Blaze and Nagase were still talking about what they had seen in Morgan when they walked back into their dorm.

"How about that Tactical Laser System, eh?" commented Blaze.

"I prefer that ECCM machine," answered Nagase. "It can actually be a great strategy, forcing your opponent to take you head-on."

"Well, we can agree to disagree," chuckled Blaze, sitting down on the bottom bunk with Nagase, and turning his face to her, as she did likewise.

"But we can at least agree that it would be insane to fly both those craft," reasoned Nagase.

"Damned straight," agreed Blaze, at which point he noticed something: Nagase's head seemed to be slowly swelling as he talked. For a horrible, heart-stopping instant, he considered rushing her to the infirmary—then he realized that she was leaning closer to him, ever so slowly. Suddenly, he got a very clear vision of what might be coming, and started fighting with himself about whether or not to respond. But he soon found himself inching forward, though not of his own volition.

"A plane that flies by thought…" said Nagase softly.

"Coolest freakin' thing in the world…" whispered Blaze. Next thing he knew, their lips had connected and would not detach. His last conscious thought before his mind blacked out was:

_To Hell with my policy; I could easily see myself spending eternity with this woman…and thoroughly enjoying it._

Nagase's last thought before blackout?

_So much for waiting until after the war…_

Meanwhile, under the Razgriz Straits, the Hrimfaxi was receiving a status update revealing the recent destruction of the Lake Dama and Sonza Desert weapons factories.

"Those pilots are becoming a major threat," mused the main commander. "They must be dealt with now, whether or not the time is right."

Turning his attention to his subordinates in the area, he gave the order:

"_**Commence the long-range attack on the Osean front line in Yuktobania.  
Let not an Osean survive."(1)**_

* * *

1: The second phrase in that sentence was stolen from a part of the Zerg Overmind's script. (StarCraft)  
Line: "Excellent! What I have wrought this day shall be the undoing of my enemies! Let not a Terran survive…" (Said once Kerrigan hatches from the Chrysalis)

TBC…

Next: Demons Of Razgriz


	16. Chapter 13: The Demons Of Razgriz

When Blaze woke up the next morning, he found himself basically draped over Nagase, who was sleeping very deeply and moving nary a muscle...she looked like she was dead. Briefly horrified, he checked for a sign of life, and got one within seconds: she began to stir, turning towards him and opening her eyes.

"Morning, Edward," she said brightly with a soft smile.

"_Buenos dias,_ Kei," he replied, exercising his Sapin once again and returning her smile. Before he could move again, however, she had leaned in, pecked him on the lips, pulled back, and was out of bed.

"Oh, that reminds me," he said, when he came to a few seconds later. "We made out last night, right? Well, that's all I remember...Did we do anything else?"

"Nope," answered Nagase with a look of relief crossing her face. "You passed out just after we broke oral contact."

"OK, whew," sighed a likewise-relieved Blaze. "Not that I would have minded taking it further, but-"

"Nor would I," concurred Nagase. "But these are dangerous times, so it would probably be safest to keep it to that until after the war."

"Agreed," answered Blaze, "wholeheartedly. But something tells me there's more to it than just that for you." Just then, they heard:

"_Black Knight Squadron, report to the briefing room immediately."_

"If we both make it back from this mission, I'll tell you," offered Nagase, holding out her hand.

"We have an accord," responded Blaze, taking her hand and shaking it. With that, they got dressed in silence and reported to the briefing room, where they found the other six pilots waiting.

_Despite the hectic mood among the staff at HQ,  
the start of the briefing was delayed._

_But the weary pilots, knowing full well  
that they must force their tired bodies back into the air  
once the order was given, weren't the slightest bit disturbed  
by the delay._

Grimm soon noticed that Nagase was heavily focused on a book she appeared to be writing in.

"Hey...what are you writing there?" he asked.

"I just can't remember this next phrase..." she replied softly.

"Here, lemme see," offered Chopper kindly, if boisterously.

"Hey!" rebuked Nagase, recoiling slightly. Then, turning her attention back to the book:

"The princess couldn't feed the dove that day. She was too sick."

"May I take a look?" offered Altman from across the room.

"...Razgriz," ventured Pixy, from next to Altman. "The Demon of Razgriz got her, right?"

"You know the story?" said Nagase, surprised.

"Razgriz?" wondered Mobius 1 and Yellow 13 aloud.

"Oh, the demon from the north sea," answered Blaze.

"I remember, my grandma used to tell me bedtime stories about it," put in Chopper. " And every time she did, I'd be too scared to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night."

Nagase let out an aghast groan.

"Settle down, people!" called a new voice as its owner walked in and the briefing finally began.

_I knew a little about that famous legend, too._

_When history witnesses a great change,  
Razgriz reveals itself...first, as a dark demon._

_As a demon, it uses its power to rain death upon the land,  
and then it dies. However, after a period of slumber, Razgriz returns..._

**Chapter 13: The Demons Of Razgriz**

"Gentlemen," began Perrault, clearing his throat, but the man who had spoken earlier cut across him.

"Excuse me, Colonel," he interrupted as politely as possible. "This is an absolutely vital mission to us. As the staff adviser sent from Central HQ for this effort, I'd like to explain it myself."

Perrault hesitated for a second, but then stepped back. The man stepped forward, revealing a face that all but screamed, "tech geek".

"I'm Lieutenant Colonel Brett Mitchell," he introduced himself, "from Central HQ." He then got right to the point:

"The Osean Army is planning a vast offensive with the ultimate objective of occupying the capital of Yuktobania. Should this operation succeed, it will end the war in very short order."

Blaze and Nagase exchanged a wink as Mitchell continued:

"However, the Yuktobanians have attacked our beachhead with ballistic missiles from the Hrimfaxi, a Scinfaxi-class submersible carrier stationed in the icy waters of Razgriz Straits."

Blaze shuddered: He was about to fly into the very area in which his own father had ended a war not more than 25 years ago.

"Fortunately," Mitchell went on, "our ground forces had already completed attack preparations, so despite the missile attack, the offensive began as planned. Nevertheless, we must neutralize the threat of another Hrimfaxi missile attack on our ground forces."

**We have a single chance to stage a successful air attack  
on the underwater carrier Hrimfaxi.**

**Our passive sonar has detected a transport submarine  
that we believe is headed for the Hrimfaxi.  
**

**We believe the transport sub's mission  
is to supply the Hrimfaxi with missiles.**

**Based on its course and speed,  
we've calculated its rendezvous time with the Hrimfaxi.**

**By amazing coincidence, it is precisely the same time  
as the zero hour of our ground attack.**

**At this time, the Hrimfaxi will have to surface  
to restock its missiles.**

**At that exact moment, ingress at low altitude to avoid detection,  
launch a surprise attack, and sink the Hrimfaxi.**

**Once surfaced, it only takes the Hrimfaxi one minute  
to rig for an emergency dive.**

**If your approach is detected, you will only have one minute  
to complete your attack on the Hrimfaxi.  
**

"Now," resumed Mitchell, not missing a beat, "keep in mind there won't be any support from Arkbird this time around. This mission rests solely on your shoulders. The entire ground offensive is relying on this first surprise attack, so don't disappoint us."

A steely glint entered Mitchell's eyes as he concluded:

"I want you to turn the icy Razgriz Straits into the enemy's graveyard. Dismissed!"

* * *

After a six-hour flight, including refuel time, the Black Knights finally reached Razgriz Straits. Blaze felt the chills of history as they drew nearer and nearer to the Hrimfaxi.

"This is where my father made history," he whispered to himself.

"Whuzzat, Eddie?" asked Mobius 1 in his helmet. And Blaze relayed the story of how his father died after cementing himself as the first Top Gun in recent history.

"I just wish I'd been able to get to know him," he finished a few minutes later.

(1)"Don't beat yourself up over it, big man," comforted Mobius 1. "I'm sure he wanted nothing more than to raise you as his son. Or, as the good Reverend would say..." He then launched into a voice that was a good imitation of a famous Erusian preacher.

"Why we're on this particular mission, we'll never know. But I do know, here today, that the Black Knights will emerge victorious once again."

"Amen, man," put in Pixy.

"Amen, Reverend," added Blaze, grinning from ear to ear. (/1) The other five pilots soon followed suit.

"Black Knights," cut in Thunderhead sharply at that moment, "stay at low altitude and fly towards the submarine fleet."

"Max altitude?" queried Blaze.

"You are restricted from flying above 1,000 feet," replied Thunderhead. "We can't risk our surprise attack detected."

"I'm getting chills," commented Chopper. "This northern sea is where the Demon of Razgriz came from."

"Razgriz..." mused Nagase.

"Heh," chuckled Chopper. "There's no way that coulda been the Razgriz."

"Hold your chatter," ordered Thunderhead. "Commencing comm out procedures shortly. Maintain radio silence."

"Guess I'll cut off the mike and try talking to myself," thought Chopper aloud. Radio silence then descended upon the squadron like a cargo net catching a trapped fugitive.

_Are you watching, Dad?_ Blaze was thinking all the way to the strike zone. _I hope you are, because I swear to you here and now, I'm going to do whatever it takes to do right by you on your battlefield. _Before he knew it, a frantic voice was hurtling through his helmet comm:

"This is Lt. Col. Mitchell, the adviser to HQ. That picket submarine just sent off an enemy detection notice. The Hrimfaxi's gonna dive in one minute. Attack immediately!"

"Hey, our cover's blown anyway!" chimed Chopper. "I'm gonna start talking now."

"Better talk about hitting the afterburners," advised Mobius 1, "'cause we gotta haul ass!"

"Ain't that the truth," agreed Pixy. "Let's move!"

Before long, the Hrimfaxi came into sight. A smaller submarine could be seen beside it.

"I've got tone," reported Blaze. The other pilots concurred, and with a chorus of "Fox Two!"s, each pilot let loose two missiles, one for each sub. All 16 missiles made contact, and the subs began to sink, Hrimfaxi more controlled than the supply sub.

"Damage status on enemy sub unknown!" reported Nagase.

"Those bastards are diving!" growled Chopper.

* * *

On the Hrimfaxi, the main room was in a state of controlled chaos. Reports were flying in from every which way, until this call came through, which the sub commander took:

"This is Submarine Squadron Command. Emergency report from our ground forces in the front line. The enemy is undertaking a large-scale offensive. Attack the enemy forces with long-range missiles from the Hrimfaxi. Urgent! Transmitting target coordinates!"

"This is Hrimfaxi. We cannot comply. We're unable to launch missiles underwater due to battle damage."

"What's the point of your existence if you don't fire now? They're penetrating our defense lines as we speak! Hurry up before they overrun our allies!"

"Damn it!" cursed the commander under his breath as he slammed the phone back onto the receiver. Then, to his shipmates in the immediate vicinity:

"Emergency surface! Grab on to something! Once we break the surface, launch the missiles and unmanned drones!"

* * *

The eight pilots were keeping a close eye on the area where the Hrimfaxi had submerged, looking for any sign that it was surfacing. Sure enough, before long:

"The Hrimfaxi's antenna has appeared above water!" informed Nagase. "It's surfacing!"

And so it was, a perfect replica of the Scinfaxi in every way. Immediately, missiles started firing out through its top hatch.

"Hrimfaxi launching burst missiles!" noted Thunderhead.

"Launching carrier jets," observed Nagase.

Blaze wasted no time in deciding how to handle the situation:

"Edge, Pixy, Mobius 1, you three come with me to take out this son of a bitch. The rest of you, go high and take out any UAVs that appear."

Seven "Roger!"s sounded simultaneously, and the operation began. Just like the fight with the Scinfaxi, the four pilots flying low started by destroying its SAM and AA defenses.

"This is Lt. Col. Mitchell, the adviser to HQ," said person was saying as this was going on. "I'm getting your info in real-time from our tracker satellite. Time your attacks to hit the Hrimfaxi when it surfaces. Sink it before it does any more damage to our ground forces with its missiles!"

"We're already on it, Lt. Col.!" called Blaze as he blew up the second AA gun with a missile; the sub had now lost half of its defensive weaponry. But even as he spoke, the sub was starting to dive. Blaze pulled up and checked to see if the other pilots were having trouble; the skies were clear of enemy craft.

* * *

Even as the floor under his feet began to feel damp, the commander was doing his damnedest to keep his crew in control.

"Sit rep!" he yelled. "Someone give me a damage report! And why have we stopped diving? Someone better talk to me!"

"Ballast tanks damaged!" somebody cried back. "Unable to submerge!"

"Forget it!" snarled the commander. "We'll just have to deal with them above the surface!"

"All this damage from four planes?" cried another voice. "How is this possible?"

"What the hell's going on?" raged the commander to himself. "Are the Oseans using some kind of black magic?"

* * *

Pixy saw that the Hrimfaxi had stopped its dive, and reported this to Blaze.

"Yes!" Blaze growled in triumph. "We've damaged it!"

"The Hrimfaxi's got a barrier of picket submarines around it!" put in Grimm.

"Chopper, Grimm, can you handle air support for the moment?" asked Blaze.

"Affirmative," answered Chopper. "There's nothing going on up here."

"OK, keep us covered," ordered Blaze. "Yellow 13, Cormorant, go take out the picket subs."

"Roger!" replied both pilots, who went off to do just that. But just as they split off...

"Hrimfaxi launching burst missile!" warned Thunderhead. "Black Knights, it's headed your way!"

"OK, hold that thought," said Blaze. "Everyone break off attack and get above 5,000 feet!"

The eight pilots did so, and were able to avoid the ensuing explosion with ease. Then, without missing a beat, they went right back to the attack. Before long, the Hrimfaxi could take no more, and it began to sink bow first.

* * *

The crew were already abandoning ship as the commander was informing Yuke Command that the Hrimfaxi was defeated.

"Hrimfaxi," said the man on the other end in shock, "it appears you're up against Razgriz itself out there."

"Looks like they were the real Razgriz, not us..." answered the commander softly, going to hang up the phone. "Maybe someone's trying to tell us that our time is up..."

Then the world was ripped apart, revealing a massive, cold, pitch-black void of oblivion.

* * *

The explosion sent a few thousand gallons of water hundreds of feet into the sky.

"Mitchell, this is Blaze," he said. "Hrimfaxi is destroyed. Threat to the ground forces is eliminated."

"Excellent," replied a joyful Mitchell. "Come back to base ASAP."

"Roger that," answered Blaze.

"Black Knights," called Yellow 13, "mission completed. What say we GTFH?" (2)

"I second that," laughed Grimm.

"Third," chuckled Nagase.

"Fourth," giggled Pixy.

"Fifth," put in Blaze. "Let's split."

* * *

**The surprise attack on the Hrimfaxi was a success,  
and the carrier has sunk to the bottom of the Razgriz Straits.**

**The threat from the northern sea has disappeared,  
and the Osean forces are on the offensive against Yuktobania.**

A celebration was held in the crew room that night, and folks were having a blast. Meanwhile, off in a corner, Albert Genette was talking with Pops.

"Me? Heavens," laughed Pops. "The ace pilots who sunk the enemy submarines are right over there, and I'm the person you want to interview now?"

"No, it's not that," chuckled Genette, fully aware of the joke. "It's just that I heard you used to be a fighter pilot yourself."

"I just fly freight planes for the maintenance crews now," answered Pops modestly. "The Captain-Captain Bartlett, that is-said it was time for an old man like me to quit trying to compete with the young guys. Talk about a lack of respect!" he finished with a wink and a laugh.

"Where did you meet Capt. Bartlett?" pressed Genette.

"We were both shot down and we bailed out behind enemy lines in the last war," began Pops. "We got through the bullet-ridden battlefield and made it back to the allied front line. I tell you, it was tough getting the Army to believe we were on their side."

"Shot down?" repeated Genette in playful disbelief. "You two?"

"Hey," reminded Pops, not playing along, "it was a long time ago. Everyone makes mistakes, right?"

"Oh, no," apologized Genette, worried that he might have hit a nerve. "I didn't mean it that way." Changing tack at the speed of light, he added,

"Even if you're not flying with those pilots, your age and experience provide a lot of support for all of them. I just wanted to tell you that. I've seen that you really listen to what they say, and you always have helpful suggestions for them."

"Well, thank you," thanked Pops, raising his mug in a toasting gesture, then taking a drink.

"I think they're all going to need you," added Genette as Pops shot him a knowing look. "Now more than ever."

"I'll do what I can," assured Pops.

"These people," noted Genette, "it's like they're walking on a tightrope that could snap at any second. They're going to reach their breaking point sooner or later."

"Yeah..." acknowledged Pops, looking off towards the party.

* * *

"So you had something you were going to tell me earlier?" Blaze asked Nagase in their dorm as the party was wrapping up.

"Oh, yes," remembered Nagase. "What would you say if I told you I'm a virgin?"

Blaze's eyebrows shot up, but he said, "I'd believe it."

"Good," breathed Nagase, "because it's true, and I want my first time to be something truly special."

"I respect that," answered Blaze. "That's what I wanted for my first time. I didn't exactly get it, but hey, what are you gonna do?"

"Not gonna ask," said Nagase.

"Good," replied Blaze, "because it's still kinda painful for me."

"Then instead of dwelling on it, how about we get to bed?"

"I'm all for that. I need a good night's sleep, and I know you do, too."

"You're damned right."

Blaze got the lights as Nagase climbed into bed.

"Good night, Kei."

"Good night, Edward. ...I love you."

Blaze was startled by this, but since he felt the same way, he knew he could respond in this way with all honesty as he climbed in bed next to Nagase:

"And I you."

Sharing a hug and a kiss, they fell asleep in each other's arms.

* * *

A/N: Sorry this took so long; I got a lot on my plate and couldn't be arsed to come back to this for the longest time. Plus, I got an idea for a Mortal Kombat fic; keep an eye out for it.

1-/1: If you did not see this coming, go kill yourself right now because there is no hope for you.

2: GTFH=Go The Fxck Home

TBC...

NEXT: Ice Cage


	17. Chapter 14: Ice Cage

Blaze woke up the morning after their sinking of the Hrimfaxi to an empty bed. He looked around, slightly worried, until he saw a note on the door. Taking it, he read:

_Edward, to the briefing room.  
We've a rescue to accomplish._

_-Kei_

Immediately, he dressed and started making his way to the briefing room, where he found the other seven pilots sitting and waiting for him.

"I read something about a rescue mission?" asked Blaze.

"Yeah," answered Mobius 1 from the other side of the room. "But that's only part of it."

"Part of it?" asked Blaze, confused. Mobius 1 responded by gesturing towards the projection screen, where a map of Yuktobania was shown.

**Our ground offensive is continuing its fast-paced push into Yuktobanian soil.**

**A POW internment camp was discovered during the offensive,  
and a team of marines has attacked and captured the camp.**

**The marines have secured the camp's radio room,  
and a flight of helicopters is en route to retrieve the prisoners.**

**Your mission is to provide close air support  
for this rescue-and-retrieval operation.**

**The radio room could be retaken by the enemy at any moment.**

**If it is, the enemy will report the attack,  
and the rescue will end in failure.**

**Find and shoot down all enemy aircraft in the local airspace,  
and secure air superiority across the entire area.**

"Pilots, questions?" asked Colonel Perrault after entering the room. To the surprise of all, Blaze raised his hand, and Perrault acknowledged him.

"Do we happen to know how many enemy craft are flying air cover over the engagement zone?" he asked.

"We just received a confirmation of twelve craft flying cover," answered Perrault. "Obviously, you'll have to destroy them all before the helicopters ingress into the area." He then proceeded to point them out on the projected map of Glubina. They seemed to be concentrated in the center and northwest corner of the area, until Perrault pointed out a small squadron of three craft around the southern border of the area, almost right on top of the rescue area.

"We should leave that squadron for last," chimed in Altman from the back of the room.

"I agree," concurred Chopper, to Blaze's right. "This way, we're already in the camp area when the rescue choppers come in."

"One-stop shopping," piped up Yellow 13, on Altman's left.

"Black Knights," began Blaze, turning to face the other pilots, "you're a squadron after my own heart. I swear, I was thinking that exact same thing."

"Anything else, **First Lieutenant** Randolph?" asked Perrault impatiently, breaking up the skull session.

"Oh, sorry," answered Blaze. "No, that covers it."

"Then get to your fighters already," ordered Perrault, already on his way out the door.

**Chapter 14: Ice Cage**

A few hours later, Black Knight Squadron, all in their usual planes, were flying over the snow-covered plains of Glubina, ready to begin their strike at any time. They were in a formation resembling a possible design for an eighth Dragonball. (1) Blaze was in the lead, with Nagase right behind him, Pixy and Mobius 1 beside her, Grimm behind her, Chopper and Altman beside him, and Yellow 13 in the trail position. All pilots had their heads on a swivel, looking for the POW camp.

"This is Archer," called out Grimm. "Captain, can you see the POW camp?"

"That's a negative, Archer," replied Blaze.

"Well, we should be able to see it soon," reassured Yellow 13.

"You think the Captain...uh," corrected Grimm, his words still directed at Blaze, "I mean...Captain Bartlett...you think he's in there?"

"I bet he is," put in Chopper. "He's probably busy cussin' out all the other POWs and takin' charge right now. Right, Nagase?"

Silence.

"You're not still blaming yourself, are you?" sighed Chopper, slightly exasperated.

"No..." came the barely audible reply over their helmet comms. Even through the speaker, Blaze could tell Nagase was lying through her teeth. But he understood why she was lying: She didn't want them to worry about her. Besides, he could empathize with her survivor's guilt, having experienced it for himself. Unbidden, the grave of his last girlfriend came to the front of his mind.

"Fighters," said a crisp voice over the comms, jolting Blaze out of his thoughts, "I can hear the roar of your engines approaching."

"Identify yourself," requested Blaze, a little more harshly than he had intended.

"Uh..." the voice hesitated, evidently surprised at the roughness of Blaze's voice. "This is Sea Goblin. Am I speaking to the Four Wings of Sand Island?"

"It's eight now," answered Blaze, but yes."

"Eight?" asked the soldier. "Who else is with you?" The Aces declared themselves.

"No way..." said the soldier, overwhelmed. "If that's not a dream team, I don't know what is."

"Agreed," cut off Blaze. "Sit rep?"

"We've safely recovered the POWs," reported Sea Goblin. "Guess our copter's not here yet." Then, in an undertone: "Man, and I thought if I joined the Marines I'd get to work on tropical beaches all the time..."

"Then you joined for the wrong reasons," chimed Altman, though not unkindly.

"So I've been told, Cormorant," answered Sea Goblin. "Anyways, as I said, we have the POWs and are safe for the moment."

"Well," noted Pixy, "you're gonna have to babysit them a little bit longer. I'm picking up enemy planes on my radar."

"Roger," acknowledged the soldier. "We'll keep them safe for as long as possible."

"That's all we ask," shot Chopper. Then, to Blaze, "These enemy air patrols are really cramping our style."

"Then we better find and shoot them all down," advised Mobius 1, "or else the helos won't be able to get close. Black Knights, split off!"

"Uh..." stuttered Blaze, realizing that Mobius 1 had completely stepped over his line. "Someone remind me who was squadron leader this sortie?"

"Relax, Eddie," laughed Mobius 1. "Just busting your chops." Blaze laughed, as well.

"You heard the man," he then called out. "Divide and conquer!"

The Black Knights did just that, splitting into pairs, each going a different direction. Blaze and Nagase headed northwest, poising themselves to take out most of the planes in the area. The first two planes fell with the ease of falling asleep: Blaze and Nagase snuck up behind them so quickly that nose-gun fire had barely left the barrels when they struck the planes. The ensuing explosions nearly took out Blaze and Nagase, as well.

The process repeated with every other plane in the area, until all were destroyed.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the POW camp, Staff Sergeant Jack Bowdoin, more commonly known, jokingly, as "Captain Jack" to his fellow Sea Goblin company-mates, noticed that his men-and the POWs-were starting to become a little restless. Some were even swearing that they could see the silhouettes of Yuke soldiers moving fast within the swirling snow. To help put the men and women at ease, "Captain Jack" picked up his radio and spoke into it:

"Sea Goblin to Yellow 13, come in."

"Go for Yellow 13," answered said pilot.

"Does it seem like the enemy aircraft have noticed our infiltration? Over."

"Negative on my end. Over."

"Roger," responded "Captain Jack". "We've cut off the enemy's lines of communication here, but it's just unsettling not being able to tell what the situation is."

"Someone ask for a sitrep?" called out Blaze unexpectedly.

"Yeah, that was me," replied Bowdoin.

"Well, worry no more," reported Blaze. "All enemy aircraft have been splashed. Better still, no losses of life on either side."

"How is that better?" asked Bowdoin. "Dead pilots don't fly another day."

"True," admitted Blaze. "But every life we take means one more innocent is thrust into the horror that is war to take his place."

"Also true," conceded Bowdoin. "OK, you win this one."

As he put the radio down, his second-in-command said quietly, "You know, I can't shake the feeling that we're being watched..."

"Take it easy, Ryan," he said to the young man. "I just talked to Yellow 13 and Blaze, and they said all enemy aircraft have been shot down." But right on cue, one of the POWs called out,

"Hey, did you see a figure behind that window over there?"

"You don't think they've found us out and surrounded us already," whimpered Lieutenant Ryan, "...do you?"

"I heard some Yuke bastards talking to each other," cried another green soldier from across the room before Bowdoin could open his mouth, "I swear!"

"Hurry up with the retrieval," cried the POW who had spoken earlier. "The Yukes aren't that stupid!" Again, right on cue, there came the sound of gunfire, directed at the camp.

"Oh, no!" cried Bowdoin.

* * *

Blaze was about to call the SAR unit for an ETA when Sea Goblin came back on the radio, sounding frantic beyond belief.

"Black Knights, this is Sea Goblin! The enemy's spotted us! They're headed for the radio room!"

"Sea Goblin, confirm: you're under fire right now?" asked Blaze.

"Affirmative! Where the hell are the helos?!"

"Finding out right now," answered Blaze. Flipping over to the SAR channel, he said, "Sea Goblin, this is Blaze. ETA to POW camp?"

"We're fifteen minutes out," came the reply. "Waiting for your call."

"Well, you have it," said Blaze. "All enemy aircraft are destroyed, but the POW camp is under enemy ground attack. You better haul ass."

"And so we shall," answered the SAR pilot. "We'll be there ASAP. SAR out."

* * *

"Captain Jack" was huddled under an access window when the gunfire started to come dangerously close to his person. At present, he was praying to anyone who would listen for the safety of his men and the POWs on this day.

"Blaze to Sea Goblin," came a summons in his helmet, "come in."

"Captain Jack here!" shouted Bowdoin. "The gunfire is intensifying! The Yukes must have brought a battalion!"

"Talk about timing," marveled Blaze. "I just got off from the SAR team. They're on their way and will be here ASAP. ETA: fifteen minutes."

"Captain Jack" cursed under his breath. "We're hilariously outmanned and hopelessly outgunned here!" he yelled to Blaze. "We won't last fifteen minutes!"

"How close is the gunfire?" asked Blaze. "Hiss or snap?"

"It's been hiss all the way so far-" Right on cue, he heard a loud snap as a bullet whizzed by two centimeters from his helmet. "Scratch that, Blaze! Never mind!" Throwing the radio down, he turned to his men.

"Men, combat positions!" Everyone took up a defensible position.

"We'll fire on three!" he yelled to his soldiers. "Three, two, one...FIRE!" Wasting no time, the soldiers opened fire with their M4s. "Captain Jack" grabbed a grenade, pulled the pin, and threw it out into the battlefield. It sailed for 50 yards before coming to a rest and exploding, throwing it's scorching-hot fragments up to 300 meters from the epicenter. He then grabbed his rifle, brought the sights to his eye, and fired a quick three-round burst directly at a Yuke soldier who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Even through the thick, swirling snow, Bowdoin could clearly see two of the bullets impact the soldier's chest..._and the man didn't even so much as flinch. _The third bullet, however, caught the soldier square between the eyes, passing cleanly through the nasal cavity and exploding out the back of his skull. The man was slow to fall, but he finally crumpled down in the snow, never to rise again.

"Don't fire indiscriminately," he advised his men, "but don't hesitate, either! Just pick your targets, and SHOOT!"

* * *

In the lead SAR helicopter, the pilot noticed a bit of something on his dashboard.

"Hang on back there!" he called. "We're hitting some turbulence!"

* * *

Finally, Blaze saw the SAR force come into view: two CH-47s heading for the southeast area of the EZ. Unfortunately, he also saw some Yuke air cavalry hot on their heels.

"Sea Goblin," he called to the SAR choppers, "you've got bogeys on your 6."

"We see them," replied the pilot, calmer than he probably had a right to be. "Can you deal with them?"

"Roger that," answered Blaze. Then, to the other Black Knights: "Knights, this is squadron leader. Who's closest to kill box 10-India?" (2)

"That would be we Aces, Blaze," answered Yellow 13.

"OK, Exemplar, haul over to kill box 10-India and take out the Yuke air cav that's harassing the SAR unit," ordered Blaze. "Wardog and I will meet you there ASAP."

"Roger that," replied Pixy. "Aces out."

"Wardog, let's haul out," Blaze called out to the other pilots. "Air cav needs help." But they were barely halfway there when...

"Enemy reinforcements destroyed," reported Altman.

"Already?" said Blaze, surprised.

"Keep in mind," reminded Pixy, "I'm flying Morgan."

"Oh, right," laughed Blaze. "Laser weapon."

* * *

Meanwhile, the Yuke weaponfire had grown intense enough to somehow blow a good-sized hole in the roof of the POW camp. For no reason at all, "Captain Jack" looked up through the hole...and was very nearly killed by a bullet that grazed the front of his nose. He immediately dropped back down, more out of surprise than anything else. Then he looked up through the roof again...and saw the most beautiful thing in existence: salvation, in the form of two CH-47s coming in to hover over the camp.

"Whew," he muttered to himself. Then, into the radio: "Sea Goblin to Edge."

"Go for Edge," came Nagase's reply.

"Our ride's here," he said, relieved. "The ground's still crawling with weapons installations, though, so they can't land. Could you clear them out for us?"

"Blaze, that's all you," she relayed to him.

"On it!" called Blaze, and even as he spoke, Bowdoin could hear the whine of a jet engine approaching. When it reached its zenith, Bowdoin could just barely make out the outline of a Raptor as it darted by overhead. Within 45 seconds, Blaze was reporting that the last of the AA installations had been destroyed.

"I see the POW camp," crackled Nagase's voice over the radio. "The man I must..." She stopped, as if catching herself, then finished: "...the PEOPLE we must help are in there."

"Be careful," warned Blaze. "The weather's getting even worse."

"The Yuke soldiers are retreating!" yelled one of Bowdoin's men triumphantly. "We did it!"

_Thank you, God,_ thought Bowdoin silently. "OK, POWs and soldiers, our ride is here! Everyone line up outside, POWs for one helo, soldiers for the other!" Then, into the radio:

"OK, thanks for taking out the trash. We're taking the POWs outside. Can you see their smiling faces?"

"No, but that's only due to weather conditions," answered Pixy with a slight chuckle. Bowdoin then noticed a Terminator headed towards a lower altitude.

"Nagase's actually going down to look?" asked an incredulous Chopper, laughing.

"OK," reported Bowdoin, "everyone's in the helos. Checking to make sure we got all of them."

"Edge for Sea Goblin commanding officer," called Nagase, "come in."

"Staff Sergeant Jack Bowdoin," he answered, "go ahead."

"Is Captain Bartlett there?" she asked, as if unable to restrain herself any longer. "Check for a Capt. Bartlett." Bowdoin walked among the POWs, asking names and birthplaces. Then he reported back:

"Hmm...no, nobody named Bartlett here." Noticing one person he hadn't checked out yet, he went to the person, saying, "Hey, what about you?" After he had the info he needed, he delievered the news.

"Nope, not here. None of the other POWs ever heard of him, either."

"But that can't..." gasped Nagase in horror. "Look, just check for me one more time!"

* * *

At that exact moment, Blaze happened to look to the south. He saw a missile battery cleverly hidden in the mountainside. He made to turn towards it and destroy it, but he was too late. The missile was away, and it had a scent...that of First Lieutenant Kei Nagase.

"Ah, damn it, Nagase!" he yelled out. "Watch it, you've got one on your tail!" (3)

"I see it!" she cried. Immediately, she started evasive maneuvers. Banking, looping, corkscrewing, rolling, she tried every possible trick she knew. The missile stuck to her more stubbornly than a bulldog with a bone. Then, an idea struck her at the same time a picture of Bartlett flashed in her mind.

"After all the Captain said to me, I..." Then she abruptly brought her nose to point straight up and killed thrust.

Blaze could only watch in horror as Pugachev's Cobra was foiled by a missile exploding on her port wing. About five seconds after impact, he saw a parachute opening from where the cockpit had been.

"You all right?!" he cried out.

To his relief, she replied, "I'm fine. My plane's trashed, but those are always replaceable."

The SAR team had evidently been watching, as well, because the next voice they heard was that of the Staff Sergeant:

"Sea Goblin to gunship. We're taking our guests home now. Can you guys rescue her?"

"Roger," replied the gunship pilot. "Weather conditions are getting worse. We'd better step on it."

"Damn straight you better," muttered Blaze. He was having trouble considering the possibility that something might go wrong.

"Landing point confirmed, roger," reported the gunship. "Heading in to pick her up."

As Blaze watched, the gunship headed in for Nagase. However, before it could get close, a freak downdraft grabbed the gunship and threw it with all force to the ground.

"The gunship crashed!" cried Blaze, realizing in terror that his worst fear was not far from realization.

"Damn it!" growled Bowdoin. "The storm's too strong!"

"We can't just leave her behind!" argued Chopper.

"I'm with Chopper!" yelled Blaze.

"Look," reasoned Grimm, "I hate it, too, but we have to wait for conditions to get better before we can do anything."

"But this is the middle of NOWHERE, deep in enemy territory, IN A FREAKING BLIZZARD!" screamed Blaze, furious and terrified for Nagase's safety. "Nagase could be DEAD by the time conditions improve!"

"Nagase's resourceful," reassured Altman gently. "She'll be fine."

"Damn it," raged Blaze, "is there nothing we can do?!"

"I don't see how we can do anything, Eddie," answered Mobius 1 honestly, which, for Blaze, was the nail in Nagase's coffin.

"DAMN IT!" he shrieked.

"You said it," concurred Bowdoin.

* * *

Back on Sand Island, they delivered the news to Perrault right away.

**The POW rescue operation was a success, and both the marines  
and our friends held in the camp were safely recovered.**

**As for Kei Nagase, who was attacked and bailed out during the operation,  
Colonel Perrault will issue orders on her behalf.**

**Central Command will be replacing Ms. Nagase's plane,  
which was lost in the crash.**

Perrault now stepped forth.

None of the rescued POWs saw Bartlett in the internment camp.

Now where could he be, I wonder?

An already furious Blaze found himself fighting not to stride up and throttle Perrault where he stood.

Upon more favorable weather conditions,  
we will carry out a rescue operation for CAPTAIN Nagase.

That's right, you've all been promoted yet again.

You guys are burning through the ranks, you know that?  
You can thank High Command for it.

Blaze strode boldly from the room in a blind rage once Perrault left.

* * *

Later that night, the empty crew room received a visitor in the person of Albert Genette, who turned on the light and saw a red book on the couch. He walked over to it.

_She'd left her book in the crew room._

Picking it up and flipping it over, he noted the title and started thumbing through the book.

_"A Blue Dove for the Princess"._

_That was the title of the book she left behind._

_A favorite book from her childhood._

What he found within the book's pages absolutely stunned him.

_The pages have torn off over the years  
and she had been writing down the words that were on those pages,  
trying to remember every sentence and every verse._

As he reached the famous picture of the princess feeding the blue dove for the first time, his mind flashed back to the conversation he had had with Nagase about this very book.

_"I loved this book so much," she had said, looking at it wistfully, as if remembering all the times she had read it. "But I only have faint memories of what was inside," she revealed as her face grew sad. "I feel like I've grown so far away from everything since then."_

_I remember how she looked when she told me that._

Recalling another conversation related to the book, Genette closed it and looked off into the distance.

_Did she choose to crash on purpose,  
rather than having to take part in  
the invasion of another country?_

* * *

Blaze was sitting on his bed in his room, numb due to the day's events. He had done his best to let off some steam, but he could not shake his fear that Nagase would be dead before they could mount a rescue. And then he would have had to bury two loved ones.

A tear escaped his eye as he stared out of the window. Then he remembered her telling him she loved him: the way her face had seemed to glow when she said those words, the way her eyes twinkled in just the right light, her soft features, her angelic voice...

_No,_ he thought to himself. _No, I'll not let it happen. I flat refuse to lose you the way I lost Elsa. We-no, I will bring you back alive and in one piece. If not, I'll resurrect you so I can kill you myself._

As Blaze thought this, his face grew hard and determined, and his eyes grew cold and steely.

_Hang in there, Nagase. I'm coming for you..._ (4)

* * *

A/N: Writer's block and Let's Playing are cruel, cruel mistresses. But I finally got inspired, and I apologize for keeping you waiting.

1: One of seven orange balls marked with from one to seven stars. When one collects all seven, they are granted one wish.

2: If this isn't how kill boxes work, please let me know. What I was trying to do was call out the square mile within the EZ which contains the POW camp.

3: This line is said by Red Leader in Star Wars: A New Hope, once the TIE Fighters enter the picture during the Battle of Yavin.

4: A line similar to this is used to close out the Steve Perry Star Wars novel Shadows of the Empire.

TBC...

NEXT: White Noise


	18. Chapter 15: White Noise

When Blaze woke up the following morning, his body felt lethargic, like his purpose in life had ended, and it was time for him to die.

_What? Already?_ he thought, surprised, thinking it really was time to die. _I hope I have time to say goodbye to Kei-_ As soon as his train of thought reached Nagase, the memories of what had happened to her the previous day came flooding back, unbidden, in a torrent, and with a hell of a vengeance. At that moment, a power and energy such as he had never felt before-or had even known existed, let alone was able to fit inside the body of a single person-started coursing through his veins like a fast-acting poison. He then immediately experienced a clarity of mind to rival any that had been noted by anyone, anywhere, at any time in history.

_I will damn myself to an eternity in Hell before I let you die of hypothermia, Kei,_ he thought viciously, as though attempting to project his thoughts to Nagase's current location-wherever that may be-and **will** her to hear him, and let her know that he was coming for her. _I will not lose you to Mother Nature. You have too damn much flying ability to die that way. You would deserve a warrior's death, as a samurai killed fighting his greatest enemy face-to-face._

With a sense of purifying purpose, and feeling as though his body was about to burst into flames from the perfect storm of energy and power raging within him, he dressed quickly and made his way to the nearest PA station. Picking up the microphone, he spoke into it with a voice so full of rage, pain, determination, resolve, and raw emotion, it surprised even himself:

"_**Black Knight squadron pilots, report to the briefing room immediately, meaning two minutes from the end of my transmission. You will not be punished for arriving in fatigues, pajamas, or bubbles and bathwater, but trust me when I say you DO NOT want to arrive late. That is all. Out." **_(1)

With that, he put the microphone back in its holder and made his way to the briefing room. Along the way, he ran into Base Commander Perrault.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Randolph?" he asked brusquely as Blaze walked past him at a ferocious pace.

"I'm going to rescue Capt. Nagase with the rest of my squadron," replied Blaze shortly, not even so much as looking in Perrault's direction or breaking stride. "Out of my way." And he shoved Perrault out of the way with one arm.

"That would technically be theft of aircraft!" called Perrault sardonically. At that, Blaze stopped short and turned around to face Perrault. He saw Perrault visibly recoil, and Blaze knew why: he looked as though Satan himself was fixing to burst from his body and unleash the Apocalypse on the Multiverse, right down to the hellfire that could easily be seen in his eyes.

"Then shoot me," he dared Perrault. "Kill me right now. Barring that, court-martial all of us when we get back." He started walking towards Perrault at the same ferocious pace. Once he got within two feet of Perrault's (rather beaklike) nose, he stopped dead and lowered his voice to a whisper more dangerous than even that of Norman Bates. (2)

"But as you can clearly see," Blaze went on, "I am far from being in the mood to be fucked with right now. _**I am going to bring back Capt. Kei Nagase-dead or alive-and nothing you say or do will stop me. **_You don't like it? Go pound sand." And Blaze stalked off to the briefing room, leaving Perrault drenched in his own sweat, and, judging by two growing distinct scents, a couple of other bodily wastes as well.

"Bring back Capt. Nagase," Perrault whimpered, purely out of fear of Blaze. "Don't make us have to give her a posthumous two-rank promotion."

**Chapter 15: White Noise**

When Blaze entered the briefing room, it was initially empty. But he only had to wait ten seconds before Mobius 1 and Yellow 13 showed up, all decked out for air combat.

"I figured you two would be the first to show up," he growled approvingly.

"Oh, ye of little faith," Mobius 1 replied with his trademark snark, "when didst thou doubt?" (3) Before Blaze could reply, Pixy and Altman walked in wearing matching blue pajamas.

Taking one look at the matching color, Blaze tried with every fiber of his being-and failed miserably-to prevent himself from saying,

"I'm not going to ask..."

"It's not what you think!" cried Pixy, waving his arms wildly-so wildly, in fact, he almost knocked Altman clear off his feet. As Altman fought to steady himself, Chopper and Grimm came in wearing naught but towels. Their bodies were still visibly damp-they had obviously been caught in the shower when Blaze made his call to arms.

"Separate sides of the shower area, I hope, boys?" asked Yellow 13 jokingly.

"You damn right," answered Chopper with all the bluster he could muster.

"Settle down and take a seat, all of you," ordered Blaze in the voice that could only be interpreted as: _Do exactly as I say or I will personally skin you alive. _They all sat down immediately. Blaze then began his briefing:

**We've succeeded in tracking down Capt. Kei Nagase's  
distress beacon.**

**We will now launch a combat search and rescue operation  
for the Captain.**

**Capt. Nagase is currently on the run from an enemy patrol.  
Although she's being pursued, her distress beacon is still broadcasting.**

**This transmission is extremely weak, so we cannot confirm  
her location unless we get closer to the source of the signal.**

**We must follow the signal to find Capt. Nagase's  
concealed location as quickly as possible.**

**Once we find her, I will report her location  
to the Sea Goblin Helicopter Squadron.**

**The helicopter search and rescue team is expected to face  
stiff opposition from enemy air and ground forces.**

**After the helicopter team picks up Capt. Nagase,  
we will provide air support for them as they airlift her out.**

"Does anyone have any questions?" asked Blaze. No one raised a hand, said a word, or gave any other indication of a question.

"Then what are we waiting for?" said Blaze. "Kei's counting on us. Those of you who are already dressed-" he indicated Mobius 1 and Yellow 13- "-get to your planes. The rest of you, get changed and THEN get to your planes. We have **no time to waste.** I expect you all to meet me in the hangar within the next five minutes exactly, starting now. Dismissed! Double time! Let's go!"

* * *

"This emergency locator beacon is our connection to Nagase," Blaze reminded the other six pilots as they reached the EZ in the middle of Glubina. "Let's hurry up and find her. Split off and cover as much ground as you can."

"Roger!" chorused six voices as the formation broke off.

"Hang in there, Kei," said Blaze powerfully over the radio. "We're coming for you." Then, to the other pilots:

"Pay attention to the changes in the signal's pitch and tempo."

"Right," answered Grimm. "I'll try to get a bearing that has a better response."

"You and me both, friend-o," added Pixy.

"Does everyone understand how to view the distress signal sensor on their HUD?" asked Chopper, to be sure.

"We all get it," answered Altman.

"No need to worry on that front," reassured Yellow 13.

"OK," breathed Chopper, "just cheking. Make sure you don't miss Nagase's signal."

"We won't!" growled Blaze, more forcefully than he had intended.

"Whoa, whoa," stuttered Chopper, "easy there, Kid!"

"Sorry, Chopper," apologized Blaze. "But I've yet to lose a pilot under my command, and I intend to keep it that way."

"And the fact that you and Nagase intend to become an item after this war ends has nothing to do with it, I presume?" queried Chopper slyly.

"Wha-but-that's-how in the hell-what in God's name-" spluttered Blaze incoherently; he had been caught completely off guard-so much so that he completely forgot his emotion for a minute.

"It was kinda obvious," answered Chopper. "Relax, Kid; as long as you keep business separated from pleasure, dating between pilots is paid no mind. Hell, we encourage it!"

Blaze could not stop himself from bursting into laughter at that comment, and from the sound of things, neither could the other six pilots.

"Thanks, Choppper," said Blaze, still snorting with laughter. "I needed that."

"I aim to please," replied Chopper. "OK, going back to business here."

"Right," agreed Blaze. "Find Kei!" No sooner had he said that then he heard a voice over his comm:

"I'm OK...I can keep going..."

"Kei...Yes! She's alive!" Blaze yelled triumphantly. "Black Knights, did you hear that?!"

"You bet your ass we heard that!" cried Mobius 1 with unabashed joy. All pilots oriented themselves so that their DSS was pointed in Nagase's general direction, and then floored it. Seven planes screamed toward Nagase.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a thick forest, Captain (though she didn't know it yet) Nagase was running for her life from a small squadron of Yuktobanian ground troops who were tracking her every move thanks to a few inches of snow on the ground. She saw the edge of the forest and her spirit sank. But she plunged forward anyway, constantly reminding herself:

"I'll be all right...I know Blaze will come for me..."

* * *

At that moment, Blaze's radar went out in a burst of static.

"Damn it!" he cried. "Black Knights, we have a jammer craft or two in the area! Find it and blow it out of the sky!"

"Roger!" chorused six voices. But no sooner had they responded than an E-767 appeared in Blaze's HUD.

"Found it!" reported Blaze. He floored it toward the plane and unloaded a veritable cascade of ordnance into said craft. It exploded very quickly, and no sooner had this happened than the following came through his speakers:

"Blaze, I see you! Look down!"

* * *

Nagase was in a clearing directly below Blaze's plane. Wildly waving, she moved in a circle three times, after which she took out a piece of reflective glass and aimed it so it caught the bright sunlight. She then did her best to aim it towards Blaze's plane, and it wasn't long before she heard a sigh which sounded full of the most stupendous relief, followed by:

"Oh, God strike me down if I'm not glad to see you, Kei!"

"Amen to that, Blaze!" she called out elatedly. Then, turning to the forest behind her, she called out, "Get out here, guys!" And the crew of the crashed gunship, battered and slightly bloody, but alive, joined her in the clearing.

* * *

"Who's that with you, Kei?" Blaze asked.

"The gunship crew," she answered. "We all need an evac."

"Summoning them right now," replied Blaze. Without hesitation, he flipped to the SAR channel and hailed:

"Blaze to Sea Goblin, come in."

"Go for Sea Goblin," came the voice on the other end. "Have you found Edge?"

"Aff-" Blaze was cut off as the sound of automatic rifle fire came in through his helmet.

"Nagase!" he yelled.

"I'm OK, Blaze!" she called back. "But the enemy has found me and the crew! I'll stall them for as long as I can, but I'm low on supplies and they're closing in!"

"Stay alive, Kei," pleaded Blaze. "We'll get you out of there, I swear it." Flipping channels again, he resumed his call to the SAR team:

"Anyways, affirmative," he began. "We found her, and it seems not a moment too soon. She's got a battalion of Yukes on her ass. You better haul over here."

"And so we shall," assured the SAR unit. "We'll be there within five minutes, or we don't deserve the title of Sea Goblin."

"Roger," answered Blaze, chuckling despite himself. "Over and out." He then flipped back to Nagase and asked, "Kei, do you think you can hold out for five minutes?"

"No problem," answered Kei confidently, "provided one of the Yukes doesn't land a lucky shot."

"That won't happen," replied Blaze with all the respect, love, care, and force of will he could muster.

"Here comes Sea Goblin," reported Yellow 13 from nowhere. "Is the pickup site secure?"

Blaze looked around, sending his plane into a wide counter-clockwise arc. His eyes saw nothing, but once he finished his circle, his radar lit up with enemy fighters coming at him from all directions.

_Stealth craft, probably_, thought Blaze. _Would explain why they didn't show up until now_.

"Negative," he called to Yellow 13. "Black Knights, converge on my location and help me clean the evac site. Transmitting coordinates now." And he did just that. He then started flying downward in a slow spiral, so as to better see the evac site. He had no sooner reached his desired altitude than he heard a high-pitched whining sound. He looked up and saw a faint red line sweeping across the sky. As it faded away, he then heard a series of explosions. He looked, and saw the enemy planes, all with fire trailing from them, he suspected, at the spot where the red line had made contact with each plane.

"Was that you, Pixy?" he asked into his helmet.

"Guilty as charged," said pilot confessed.

"Thanks for that," said Blaze. Flipping channels, he said, "Sea Goblin, this is Blaze. Evac zone is clean. Bring her home."

"Sea Goblin arriving at evac zone now," reported the SAR pilot."

"Don't worry," came a smarmy voice from the SAR channel. "We'll bring your princess home safely."

"You do that," put in Chopper, "and I'll worship you guys."

"Hey," chimed the pilot, "so this Captain Nagase, is she a looker?"

"Why don't you rescue her," shot back Chopper, "and see for yourself."

"If she's hot," added the smarmy jerk from earlier, "I'm asking her out."

"Hey!" shouted Blaze. "Watch yourself, soldier!"

"Well then," retorted Chopper, "you can find out how tough her guard is, too. C'mon, just hurry up, will ya? Please?"

"Sea Goblin has arrived at evac zone!" relayed Mobius 1, who was looking on from the west.

"All right," instructed the SAR pilot, "prepare to drop! Don't make her wait any longer!"

"Kei, are you still alive down there?" called Blaze.

"Affirmative," came the reply. "I see the rescue bucket. I'm gonna send the gunship crew up first."

"Roger," answered Blaze, and he relayed the info to the helo. They replied their understanding, and the rescue commenced. It went off without a hitch, and all parties were soon on their way home.

* * *

**Our combat search-and-rescue of Captain Nagase was a success.**

"And damned if it's not good to have her back," added Blaze, smiling from ear to ear.

**We're having a physician check on her condition right now.**

"She should be all right," reassured Grimm. "Captain Nagase's a lot tougher than most people realize."

"Amen to that," chuckled Blaze. "OK, dismissed. Let's get some rest; damned if we haven't earned it."

* * *

_When the rescue team found her,  
she was holding captive a group of soldiers  
who were sent in to capture her.  
_

_Behind her was the helicopter crew  
that crashed while trying to rescue her._

_She had saved them,  
treated their wounds,  
and hid them in a safe place._

_I needed to rethink my image of her after this,  
after seeing her amazing toughness and tenacity._

_She even managed to obtain a little information  
from the soldiers she captured._

_It seems the people of Yuktobania were also  
beginning to have doubts about their leaders and the current war..._

_And word of Nagase's squadron was getting around,  
as the force that sunk two of their most powerful submarines._

_The Yuke Army's soldiers had nicknamed them "The Demons of Razgriz."_

_She was obviously very proud of that when she told me about it later._

_Perhaps her pride was for Captain Bartlett,  
the man who had trained them._

_Or maybe it was for her current Captain,  
for whom she seemed to be developing strong feelings._

_However, nobody in the upper echelons  
of her own Army was proud of them._

_Bartlett was still missing, and that made his old trainees  
the subject of suspicion and criticism._

* * *

"So what's the diagnosis, Doc?" asked Blaze in the medical wing later.

"I think you mean 'prognosis'," corrected the good doctor kindly.

"Whatever;" waved off Blaze, "I'm just so glad to have her back."

"She means something to you, does she?" asked the doctor slyly.

"Damn straight," said Blaze proudly, and left it at that.

"Forgive me," requested the doctor. "Curious, is all."

"Curiosity is not a sin, Doc," advised Blaze, "but you should exercise caution." (4)

"Well said," admitted the doctor. "As for the prognosis, all tests and systems checked out fine. She just needs a night or two of bed rest and she'll be good as new."

"So you could release her tonight?" asked Blaze hopefully.

"Hell," grinned the doctor, "I could release her right now if you wanted."

"Please do," beseeched Blaze. "I need to hold her in my arms again and tell her I'm sorry."

"I doubt you'll have anything to apologize for," reassured the doctor, "but if you have a seat, I'll go and grab her."

"Thanks," replied Blaze, and took a seat. As the doctor walked back into the wing, Blaze recalled all the hell he'd been through the past 18 hours: seeing the gunship crash in the bad weather, vowing to bring Nagase back alive, putting Perrault in his place, the rescue operation, and the flight back home. Not long afterward, Blaze heard the sound of footsteps. He looked over towards the door and saw Nagase coming through. He walked toward her and they embraced with the love and urgency only the fear of losing your lover can impose.

"Oh, Kei," he began, "I'm so s-"

"Don't say it," cut off Nagase. "You don't have anything to apologize for; I would have reacted the same way were it the other way around."

"Right down to what I did to Perrault?" asked Blaze.

"Wait, what?" queried Nagase, the hint of a smile beginning to cross her face.

"Oh, you didn't know?" said Blaze.

"Apparently not," admitted Nagase, as they began walking back to their room.

"Oh, God, you're gonna LOVE this one," began Blaze. "So I woke up this morning..."

* * *

"...and I left him standing there, covered in his own waste and sweat," finished Blaze as they reached their room. Nagase burst into laughter as Blaze opened the door and gestured for her to go inside.

"What a great story," laughed Nagase as she sat down on the bed. "I don't think I'd have been quite that blunt, but still."

"Hey, it worked," reasoned Blaze as he sat next to her.

"True," Nagase admitted as the laughter subsided. "Hey, I found out that the Yuke Army has given us their own nickname."

"Izzat so?" asked Blaze.

"Yeah, I think you'll like this," answered Nagase. "They're calling us 'The Demons of Razgriz'."

Blaze's jaw dropped as a result of him fighting not to laugh.

"You're not serious?" he managed to force out, barely stifling his mirth.

"If I'm lying," vowed Nagase, "I'm dying." It was at this point that Blaze could no longer hold it in, and the gleeful giggles burst forth.

"Well," said Blaze, when he had finally managed to calm himself, "I'm just glad to have you back. I must admit, it was kinda lonely without you."

"Aw, shucks, Edward," blushed Nagase. "But I will see that loneliness and raise you a 'You were who I thought of when I felt like I couldn't go any further'."

"Oh, go on," chuckled Blaze, whose turn it was now to blush.

"I could," said Nagase playfully, "but we both need to sleep."

"Best idea I've heard in a long while," agreed Blaze, and went to get the lights while Nagase took up her position on the bed. Blaze soon joined her and pulled a blanket over them both.

"Good night, love," whispered Nagase, pecking Blaze's lips.

"Good night, Kei..." answered Blaze, "...and welcome back."

* * *

1: I stole the bulk of that from an order given by Jedi Knight Zekk in Aaron Allston's Star Wars novel Betrayal.

2: He rose to prominence in the Hitchcock horror/thriller "Psycho".

3: Matthew 15:31.

4: More wise words from Albus Dumbledore, this time from Goblet of Fire.

A/N: OK, Nagase is back. But next on their radar are the two longest missions in the story. Are they up to the task?

TBC...

Next: Desert Arrow


	19. Chapter 16A: Desert Arrow

Blaze woke up one morning not long after the successful rescue of Nagase from Glubina to find a note where Nagase had been the night before. It read:

_Good morning, Edward.  
__I'm in the crew room._

_-Kei_

Blaze dressed and began to make his way to the crew room when he heard Perrault's voice on the PA:

"**Black Knights, report to the briefing room immediately.**"

Blaze didn't even break stride as he changed headings and started for the briefing room. When he reached it, the other seven pilots were already there.

(1)"Hi, everybody!" he said jokingly in a strange, high voice.

"Hi, Dr. Blaze!" replied the other pilots, (/1) and everyone except Perrault burst into laughter.

"Settle down," he said sternly. Blaze sat down, and Perrault gave them the news.

"We're launching a two-faced campaign into the Jilachi Desert in an attempt to establish a command center in the heart of Yuktobania. One mission takes place in the north of the desert, the other in the west. It's your turn to choose."

"WHAT?!" cried Chopper from the back. "Whaddya mean it's our turn to choose?"

"Just what I said," answered Perrault, smirking. "You can all talk amongst yourselves and decide which four pilots are going where. I'll be back in five minutes; make your decision and report back when I return." He then turned on his heel and walked out of the room.

"OK," said Blaze, "who wants to go where?"

"Where you go," put in Nagase immediately, "I go."

"We Aces haven't flown as a squadron in a while," mentioned Pixy. "I'd like to rekindle some old memories."

"Fine by me," agreed Mobius 1. Yellow 13 and Altman also indicated their concurrence.

"Then it's settled," said Grimm.

"Indeed," added Chopper. "The return of Wardog Squadron will strike new fear into the hearts of the Yukes."

"Provided we Aces don't beat you to the punch," laughed Yellow 13. All the pilots chuckled at this.

"OK," continued Blaze. "Now to decide who's going where."

"Flip a coin?" suggested Blaze.

"Sounds good," said Mobius 1. "I'll represent the Aces."

"OK," put in Chopper. "I got a quarter. Blaze, which side determines what?"

"Heads," answered Blaze, "Wardog goes north; tails, we go west."

"OK by me," concurred Mobius 1. With that, Chopper flipped the coin high with well-practiced ease, and it came down flat on his palm. Immediately, he slapped the hand on top of his other hand, then slowly took his first hand away to reveal Vincent Harling's profile.

When Perrault came back, he wasted no time, asking, "Have you made your decision?"

"Yes, sir," answered Grimm. "Wardog Squadron is going north."

"Very well," responded Perrault. "Exemplar Squadron, please wait outside in the hall." The Aces complied.

**Chapter 16a: Desert Arrow**

"Well, this is it," began Perrault. "Our ground forces will engage in a decisive battle with the enemy's main force in the Jilachi Desert. If our Army wins this showdown of military might, we'll be just a hair away from total victory."

"There is no such thing as total victory in war," interrupted Blaze, though not unpolitely, "and all can be lost with a single defeat."

Perrault merely rolled his eyes.

"We've still got some work for you, too," he droned on, "so don't slack off now."

**This mission will be referred to as "Operation Desert Arrow".**

**The operation will be spread across  
the entire northern part of the Jilachi Desert.**

**Its final target is at two separate strategic positions:  
the field HQ in the northern region of the mission area,  
and the airport in the western region.**

**A bomber squadron will attack the field headquarters,  
while the Army 1st Tank Battalion will advance toward the airstrip.**

**Your mission this time is to protect both units  
from defending enemy forces.**

**This operation is spread out across the entirety  
of a wide command area.**

**You'll be up against a large number of enemy forces,  
so choose your opponents carefully.**

**Don't try to take on all of them.**

**Keeping both units alive long enough to take control  
of their targets will be considered successful completion of the mission.**

**Operation Desert Arrow commences today at 1050 hours.**

"Pilots, questions?" No one said a word.

"Then good hunting," said Perrault, though everyone seriously doubted he meant it. "Dismissed!"

* * *

"Man," complained Chopper as they reached the northern Jilachi Desert, "this is ridiculous. I can't believe they chose our next mission with a damned coin AGAIN!"

"This is Thunderhead," cut in Chopper sternly. "Captain Davenport, how many times do I have to tell you to cut the chatter?!"

"Thunderhead," began Chopper, having had just about enough of Thunderhead, "this is Razgriz 3. Roger that."

"What did you just say?!" cried Thunderhead in shock. But Chopper's trick worked.

"Our target is the enemy's field HQ," reported a squadron of B-52's who were less than a mile to the south. "Initiating bomb run!"

"Viking 1 to support fighters," called out the lead bomber. "Requesting escort to target!"

And at right around the same time:

"Hawk division, begin your advance!" This, from a battalion of tanks that had come along for the mission. "Target, enemy airfield!"

"Attention, Air Force," added the tank commander. "Requesting close air support for our unit!"

"I feel like a waiter taking orders in a packed restaurant," quipped Grimm.

"Hey, that's my line!" said Chopper indignantly.

"Easy, Chopper," cautioned Blaze. "OK, we're splitting up into pairs. Chopper, Archer, which squadron do you want to cover?"

"We'll take the tanks, Captain," replied Grimm.

"Roger that," affirmed Blaze. "Edge, you and I will protect the bombers."

"Understood," answered Nagase. With that, the four pilots split off to their respective groups.

* * *

When Blaze and Nagase reached the bombers, they declared themselves to the pilots, who did likewise. Just as the introductions finished, Blaze noticed some blips on his radar, headed straight for them at max speed.

"Talk about timing, Viking Squadron," he relayed to the bombers. "Enemy fighters closing in. Edge and I will deal with them. Continue towards target, but be prepared to execute evasive maneuvers if things get hairy."

"Roger that," answered Viking 1. "We leave it in your capable hands." And so they did.

"Kei, are you ready for this?" asked Blaze.

"Blaze, you should know by now," reminded Nagase as she brought her Terminator level with Blaze's Raptor, "with you as my captain-" -_and lover_- "-I can handle anything."

"I'm glad to hear you're confident," praised Blaze, "but love and skill-even luck, now I think about it-can only do so much. Just do what you know you can. God will take care of the rest."

"I never took you for the religious type, Blaze..." mused Nagase.

"I never used to be," revealed Blaze. "Philippians 4:13 (2) completely changed that. Never underestimate the power of prayer. (3)"

"I'll have to remember that," said Nagase to herself. Right about then, a sizable squadron of F-16C 868's came into view.

(4) "It's time to kick ass and chew bubblegum," declared Nagase.

"And we're all out of gum," (/4) added Blaze with a laugh. "Let's do this!" And with that, they flicked on the afterburners and darted towards the enemy planes.

Blaze took out the lead plane with two missiles and a stream of nose gun fire. Immediately, the squadron broke ranks and started flying around at random. Blaze locked on to his next plane, but just as he was about to fire, the plane seemed to stop in midair, and next thing he knew, it had flipped to face him and was now screaming his way. (5) A single warning tone immediately started blaring in the cockpit: the enemy plane had a lock-on.

Not wasting any time, Blaze dove for all he was worth. The enemy, however, was closing in. At the last second, Blaze pulled up and started back towards where Nagase was dealing with the rest of the enemy planes. He then heard an explosion behind him; the other plane had crashed. Most likely he had tried to pull back on his yoke too hard and shorted out a cable or something. Blaze merely hoped the other pilot had had sense enough to eject if he had the time.

Meanwhile, Nagase was using corkscrews and flips to get away from a bevy of missiles that had been sniffing for her blood.

_Blast it, Blaze, where are you?_ (6)

She swerved to avoid yet another missile, but even before she stopped moving, there was another one coming from in front of her. She moved fluidly into an upward loop, and when she completed it, there was yet another one coming from in front of her, and that plane was already turning away. Nagase dove, after which she soon heard an explosion. She looked up and saw a big cloud of smoke where the offending plane had been. Looking around a bit, she soon spotted Blaze's plane flying back towards her.

"Was that you?" she asked.

"It was," he confirmed.

"Much appreciated," she thanked him.

"Don't mention it," he replied. Not long after this, working together, they had destroyed the rest of the planes and rejoined the bombers. They were not bothered the rest of the way to the enemy field HQ.

* * *

On the other side of the EZ, Chopper and Grimm had reached the tank squadron and had begun escorting it to the Yuke airfield. They, too, had just barely completed introductions when the first enemy planes came into sight.

"Captain Chopper," reported Grimm, "I count ten Yuke planes coming our way, all of them Rafale M's."

"Don't just tell me about it," urged Chopper, "fire at will!"

"Why does Will get to have all the fun?" asked a familiar voice from the ground.

"What?!" cried Grimm. "Alex?! Is that you?!"

"Yeah, Hans," replied Alex, "it's me. You had to know I wasn't going to miss out on this."

"Well," admitted Grimm grudgingly, "I suppose that's true..."

"Stop dwelling on trying to keep your brother out of this war!" ordered Chopper. "We gotta open up a path for the ground forces!"

"Roger!" replied Grimm. "Attacking enemy planes!" And he immediately let loose with his Black Widow's ordnance. Chopper did likewise with his Wyvern, and all enemy planes were soon destroyed. Grimm would later tell stories of his third splash, because it was a wily one. The first missile he fired at it was destroyed after the plane executed Pugachev's Cobra and shot it out of the sky with his own missile.

The second time he tried, the plane had executed a 330-degree turn to shake the missile. The third time, however, proved to be the charm, as the plane was unable to evade a missile that had snuck up from the side after Grimm had fired a first missile as a decoy.

As with the bombers, the tanks were not bothered again until they reached their destination.

* * *

"I see it!" reported Viking 1 after a bit of a journey. "Tally ho on the enemy field HQ!" Then, directing his words to the rest of the bombers:

"OK, on final for bomb attack. Everybody ready? Remember, we won't get another chance at this, so stay cool and make it count!"

On cue, the bombers began to drench the area with ordnance of their own. Blaze and Nagase flew low and provided a little insurance: the place was littered with flak cannons, which they destroyed on sight. Inside of five minutes, the HQ had been more or less obliterated.

"You guys are amazing!" said Viking 1 in awe to Blaze and Nagase. "You got us through all that flak!"

"What flak?" answered Blaze, chuckling. "I didn't notice any flak."

"That's because you destroyed it all," laughed Viking 1. "Viking Squadron, mission complete. Return to base. Blaze, Nagase, it was a privilege to fly with you today."

"The privilege was ours, Viking 1," answered Nagase. "All of you keep safe and keep faith."

"Roger," confirmed Viking 1. "Likewise to you. Viking out."

"Chopper, Archer," called Blaze, "regroup with us once your mission is complete."

* * *

"I see the airfield!" reported Alex Grimm once it came into sight.

"Prepare to fire!" ordered the tank commander. "Let's give 'em a taste of their own medicine!"

"Firing!" chorused the squadron of tanks. And they were.

"Should we help them out, Captain Chopper?" asked Grimm slyly.

"You read my mind, Grimm!" shouted Chopper joyfully. "Let's get low and lethal!"

"Roger!" replied Grimm. "I'll follow you!"

Grimm followed Chopper down to about 200 feet above the airfield. They shot missiles at anything that moved, whether or not it had wings, and before the four-minute mark had passed, the airfield had been decimated. A spare hangar not far away from the airfield also fell victim to an attack by Grimm.

"Mechanical parts discovered in destroyed enemy facility," noted Thunderhead. "We'll have the ground forces retrieve them later."

"This is Hawk 1," came the voice of the tank commander. "The enemy airfield is now under our control."

"Good," answered Chopper, "so that means we're done here."

"Damn right, it does," agreed Hawk 1. "It was an honor to fly with the two of you today."

"The honor was ours," put in Grimm. "May we meet again under happier circumstances."

"Agreed," confirmed Hawk 1. "Hawk out." Right then, Blaze's voice came in through their helmets:

"Chopper, Archer, regroup with us once your mission is complete."

* * *

Blaze didn't have to wait very long for a response.

"We're on our way now, Kid," came the reply from Chopper. "Everything went smoothly on our end."

"Likewise with us," affirmed Nagase.

"Wardog, ammo count," ordered Blaze. All four pilots reported more or less the same thing: fuel was good to go, but ammo was just about gone. Just as this was finished, Thunderhead cut in with:

"This is Thunderhead. Enemy AWACS detected."

"What?!" cried Grimm.

"Destroy it and maintain our air superiority over the battlefield," ordered Thunderhead.

"Roger," replied Blaze. "Wardog, you heard him. Let's move!" They all located the AWACS on their radar and rocketed to the center of the EZ, where they found an AWACS plane and a refueling craft surrounded by several Yuke fighters. The AWACS, Blaze noted, was a KC-18, which looked much like a 767 with a large rotating dish near the tail section.

"That's the boss, huh?" Chopper asked, referring to the AWACS.

"Indeed, it is," replied Blaze. "Wardog, engage and destroy the refueling craft!" It quickly fell to a flood of nose gun fire.

"Excellent, Wardog," praised Blaze. "Now, evade the fighters and wipe out that AWACS!"

Nagase emptied what was left of her ammo banks into the slow, not-so-maneuverable AWACS, which soon blew up in an impressive fireball.

"Enemy AWACS shot down," confirmed Thunderhead. "The enemy's air forces are falling apart." And it was true; as soon as the AWACS exploded, the Yuke fighters had scattered, turned tail, and fled.

"All right," praised Thunderhead, "mission complete. Return to base."

Because Sand Island was simply too far away, Wardog (and eventually Exemplar) stayed in what was left of the Yuke airfield that night. Blaze himself delivered their debriefing:

**Operations Desert Arrow and Desert Blitz were a success.**

**Yuktobania's field headquarters, two airfields, and oil facility  
were completely destroyed, thanks to the teamwork between  
the Black Knights and their respective ground forces.**

**The Osean army is advancing quickly on all fronts,  
and enemy forces in the Jilachi Desert are on the verge  
of being annihilated.**

**The ground forces, fresh off securing the Jilachi area  
of operation, have set off for Cruik Fortress in their  
quest to liberate Cinigrad.**

"Our ground forces have scored a major victory," noted Orson Perrault, who had stopped in briefly to congratulate the pilots on a job well done while the AWACS was refueled.

"If we can destroy the fortress standing in our path," he added, "we'll open a road to the capital of Yuktobania. Then we'll storm the heart of the enemy!"

"Anything else you wish to say, Colonel?" asked Blaze politely.

"You eight pilots did excellent work out there," finished Perrault. "If you weren't so damn good, Osea wouldn't stand a chance at winning this war." With that, Perrault walked out of the room.

"That's all from me; dismissed," said Blaze, and the pilots split off to find dorms for the night.

* * *

Blaze and Nagase found a room and were talking, as they usually did after a mission, when Nagase remembered something.

"You said you were a religious man earlier," she noted. "When did that come about?"

"I found God after my last girlfriend's death," Blaze began. "You may or may not believe it, but not long after she died, I started to seriously contemplate suicide."

"What?!" cried Nagase.

"It's true," assured Blaze. "I was that depressed."

"Why would you even let thoughts like that enter your head?" croaked Nagase.

"She was, to me, basically, what you have become: my rock, my sounding board, my sanctuary," answered Blaze honestly. "I couldn't live with myself, knowing that I had destroyed her, albeit accidentally."

"So what happened?"

"I had set up my suicide at my apartment complex; I was halfway out my bedroom window, and my apartment was on the eighth floor. Just before I jumped, I looked up to the sky and said to myself, 'Get ready, Elsa. Company's coming." As I finished that sentence, I saw the sky rip open. There was God, and He called to me, 'Edward, do not jump. It is not yet your time.' I said, 'Lord, my future is empty without Elsa.' He moved aside, and Elsa appeared. She said to me, 'Honey, I'm OK. I don't blame you; it wasn't your fault. You have to let me go. Move on; be brave, don't cry over my death. But please, don't ever forget me.' I told her I couldn't forget her even if I wanted to. She said she would always be with me, and then she came down and touched my chest, directly over my heart. I felt something warm bubble up inside me, and it was all I could do to not shout for joy. I started going to church almost immediately thereafter."

Nagase was beginning to cry by this point; Blaze wrapped her in the biggest bear hug he could muster.

"You need not worry," he assured her. "I'm not going anywhere."

"You even so much as THINK about doing something like what you told me again," threatened Nagase, "and I'll kill you myself."

"I believe it," laughed Blaze. "I pray almost every night before I fall asleep."

"Which I'm about ready to do," mentioned Nagase.

"Myself as well," concurred Blaze. He kissed Nagase and climbed into his bed; Nagase did likewise.

"Goodnight, Edward," said Nagase softly. "I love you."

"And I you," replied Blaze, just as softly. "Sleep well." With that, he shut off the lights. Before he fell asleep, he prayed about as hard as he had ever prayed in his life: for the health of his mother, for the end of the war, for the safety of his squadron, for the security of what few other relatives he had.

* * *

A/N: There's a shocker and a half for you. Let's see what happens in the events to come.

1: Blaze and the crew are imitating Dr. Nick's opening routine from "The Simpsons".

2: I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.

3: Quote stolen from Meat Loaf in the movie "Black Dog". Go watch it. Right now.

4: Quote made famous by the Duke Nukem games. Go play them. Right after you finish watching Black Dog.

5: The maneuver described here, for those who don't recognize it, is referred to as Pugachev's Cobra. It features most prominently in AC04.

6: Quote stolen from Mark Hamill as he's being chased by a TIE Fighter in Star Wars IV: A New Hope.

Note: The end of this chapter, as you no doubt saw, deals with a very real and sensitive subject: suicide. If you or someone you know is in crisis, or has thoughts of suicide, do not wait. Get them help. The National Suicide Prevention Hotline is a great place to start. Their # is 1-(800)-273-TALK (8255).

TBC...

Next: Desert Lightning


End file.
